Movie Magic
by Ani-maniac494
Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get...complicated. MA. Complete.
1. Your Mission, Should You Accept It

Title: Movie Magic

Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get…complicated. MA.

Spoilers: Takes place sometime after "Love Among The Runes," but before "Freak Nation."

Disclaimer: Dark Angel isn't mine, but I'm claiming Alec and I'm not giving him back! ;)

A/N: This started out as a little bunny and I figured, a few pages maybe, and I'd be done, but I should have known better, lol. This bunny grew by leaps and bounds, and considering the fact that acting and Dark Angel are two of my favorite things…I wound up with a lot to play with. :D

This fic is already complete, so Lord willing, updates won't be a problem. I'm hoping to post a new chapter every few days or so.

A/N2: This story was originally inspired by two prompts on RH last October. The first prompt, and the one you'll find in this chapter, was the Stocking Stuffer Prompt: Begin a story with this: '"I have to do what?" he/she asked, incredulously.'

As always, I thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the source of all inspiration, and without Him, this story would never have been finished. He's blessed me beyond measure, and I can never praise Him enough for all He's done.

I hope you enjoy it, and please let me know what you think!

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**My humble apologies to anyone who tried to read this first chapter and found it the same as the second one. I honestly have no idea what happened. I looked at both chapters after uploading the second, and they were both in the right place. Either FF.N did something really odd *gives the site a strange look* or somehow editing went wrong and it didn't show up before I signed off. Thank you to the reviewers who told me about the problem. :)**

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**Movie Magic**

"I have to do what?" Max asked incredulously.

Logan couldn't help wincing as her voice rang through the room. He'd known it wouldn't be easy convincing her to do this, but there wasn't any other choice.

"Max-" he started.

"No, Logan."

He opened his mouth to try again but she cut him off.

"No."

"Aw, come on, Maxie, I think it could be fun."

Max tuned around to glare at Alec, who was sitting on the couch watching the whole scene, an amused grin spread across his features. He didn't seem to be the least bit affected by Max's scathing look.

Logan tried not to be irritated. Like it or not, he needed Alec for this mission too, and Logan knew, no matter what, Alec would just tag along anyway. Wherever Max went, he would follow, the constant pain in -- and at -- Max's side.

"Well, fun or not," Logan felt obligated to add, drawing their attention once more, "five people have disappeared so far."

Max sighed, her shoulders slumping a little. "Okay. I'm listening."

She still didn't sound convinced, but at least she was willing to hear him out. Not wanting to take the chance that she would change her mind, Logan spun in his chair, tapping a few keys on his computer to bring up the information he wanted.

"Eddy Malone," Logan began, picking up his explanation from where he'd been interrupted. "He's a movie producer who has ties to the mob here in Seattle. Rumor has it, he's putting out hits on rival producers. A producer gets a job Eddy wants, he calls his mob friends, the hit goes down, that producer disappears, and Eddy swoops in to take over."

"If you know so much about him," Alec interjected, "why exactly do you need us again?"

"Well, right now, the rumors are just rumors. He's done a good job covering his tracks, and nobody wants to come forward against this guy. He's either paid them off, or they're too scared to talk."

"And so you want to snoop around the set, see if you can dig up some proof?"

Logan nodded.

"The only problem is that it's a closed set, nobody in or out, unless they're part of the cast or crew. Pretty strict security for a movie filming in the middle of nowhere."

"Which is where we'd come in," Max supplied.

Logan nodded again.

"Eddy fired the last two actors they'd picked for the leads, claiming 'they didn't have enough charisma.' Now they're scrambling to find replacements. Max, I know you don't like it, but someone with your movie-star looks-"

"Hey, what am I, chopped liver?" Alec interrupted.

Logan ignored him.

"Someone with your movie-star looks wouldn't have any problem being cast for a role."

Max looked at his computer and frowned, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Can't you just hack into their files?"

"All their records are on paper." Logan sighed, rubbing his eyes and readjusting his glasses. "You've done undercover work for me before, I don't see how this is any different."

"It's different because people know about us! White's out there right now, trying to hunt us down. Pretending to be actors, filming a movie, that's way too much exposure. If White caught on, he'd be all over it."

"Max, I know it's a risk, but the movie's being filmed in Canada, at a pretty remote location. I wouldn't be asking if I thought it would put you in danger."

Now it was Max's turn to sigh.

"I know that, Logan," she answered more quietly. She glanced away, biting her lip, and Logan could tell she was close to saying yes.

"Come on, Max," Alec coaxed, apparently sensing it too, "this'll be a lot easier than most of the other jobs we've pulled."

Max's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she turned around to look at Alec again.

"Since when are you all for going on Eyes Only missions?"

"Since I saw who's on the supporting-cast." He grinned, nodding at the computer screen listing the movie's stats. "Teresa Matthews. I've watched some of her movies. She's not very well known, but she's been in a few things. Good actress. Hot too."

This time both Max and Logan glared at him.

"What?" Alec asked innocently. "Can't a guy appreciate a beautiful member of the female species? From a distance, of course," he added at Max's glare. "Then again," he said quickly when her glare only intensified, "why would I want to appreciate anyone else when the most beautiful woman in the world is standing right next to me?"

Max rolled her eyes, but her scowl softened a little, and Logan tried once more to ignore the pang of jealousy he felt. Max had made her choice, and he had to accept that. Even if he didn't understand it.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Logan cleared his throat.

"So, will you do it?"

There was a long pause.

"Yeah," Max said finally. "Yeah. We'll do it."

Logan let out a breath, relieved.

"I'll get the IDs set up, and we can leave in a few days."

Max nodded, looking back to Alec again. "Can you square that with Normal?"

Alec shrugged. "Sure, I think I can come up with something. Hey, maybe I can tell him that I've been discovered and I'm starting my Hollywood career."

Max snorted. "Like he'd believe that."

"Why wouldn't he believe that? A lot of people have told me I should be in Hollywood," Alec defended.

"Right," Max deadpanned. "you'd be a perfect comedian. Nobody takes you seriously anyway."

"Nah, I've always thought of myself as more the action-hero type. You know, kicking down doors, beating bad guys, saving damsels in distress…"

Logan watched silently as the banter continued and they moved for the door, side by side, like always. They looked…comfortable. More comfortable than he and Max had ever been.

And that hurt, because he couldn't help but notice the way even Max had automatically said _we _when it came to her and Alec. Yes, he'd asked them both come, needed them both to pull it off, and Alec had obviously already been on-board…but it still stung.

He had a feeling it always would.

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There'd been a reason Max hadn't wanted to go on this mission. A very good reason. Yeah, potential exposure was part of it -- after all, it wasn't just her. She had everybody else in TC to worry about too, on top of the evil cult who wanted them dead. But that wasn't why she'd said no. She'd said no because of the hours she knew they'd have to spend driving up to the set.

It wouldn't have been a problem before…before the virus, before she'd gotten careless and Logan had almost died, before she'd told Logan that she was with Alec. But that was then and this was now, and _now_ was just as uncomfortable and tense as she'd expected.

The last few hours had been spent mostly in uneasy silence, Logan casting furtive glances in the review-mirror at her and Alec sitting in the back seat. Every look made Max feel more guilty, a guilt she tried to tell herself she didn't have a reason to feel.

She'd done the right thing.

She knew Logan, and unless he thought she was with someone else, he wouldn't have given up on her. He would've chased after her and promised to keep his distance until, eventually, she would have let her guard down again.

But she couldn't let that happen, because one touch was all it took. One touch and he'd be dead, and it'd be her fault. She didn't want to live with that anymore than she wanted Logan to get hurt.

She'd hurt him enough already.

Alec, at least, seemed to understand that, and though there'd been a few slipups -- like his comment about that actress, Max thought, annoyed -- he was actually handling it pretty well. He'd even been doing small stuff for her that a boyfriend would, like opening doors, and getting something for her to eat from the Kwick-E-Mart they'd stopped at earlier that morning. He'd tried to fill the silence in the car too at first, but either he'd run out of things to say -- which Max seriously doubted -- or he'd just given up.

She kind of wished he hadn't, though, because even Alec droning on and on was better than nothing. And if his voice just happened to calm her frazzled nerves a little, well…so what? It just meant that Manticore knew how to make 'em _sound _pretty, too.

Not that she'd thought about it before or anything.

Thankfully, the feeling of the car slowing down broke Max out of her reverie, and she turned away from the window to see the entrance to the set up ahead. Relieved that they'd finally made it, she sat up straighter and tried to look a little more enthused about being here than she actually was, just in case anyone was watching.

Logan rolled down the driver's side window, greeting the guard who had walked up.

"Gary Sherwood, from the Sherwood Acting Agency," Logan introduced himself. "I spoke to Mr. Malone a few days ago."

Max tuned out the rest, causally scanning the woods around them. She felt Alec shift next to her, probably doing the same.

Logan had been right about the tight security. There were four guards at the gate, and a few others lining the road. And those were just the ones at the main entrance. The IDs Logan had gotten for them seemed to work though, and after a few questions, they were waved through.

It didn't take them long to reach the small, dirt parking area not far from the gate, and soon they were out of the car and headed for the set itself. Logan stopped a crew person who was passing by, telling them who they were, and the guy pointed them to a man wearing an orange windbreaker and a baseball-cap.

Max let her eyes wander around the set as they walked.

According to Logan, the Pulse had really taken a toll on the film industry, and their once-multi-million dollar budgets had dropped to only a few thousand when most of Hollywood had moved to Europe.

It showed.

The few buildings on the set looked like they were made out of plywood covered in the cheapest paint you could find. The windows were plastic instead of glass, and fake flowers and a weathered bench made up a what she figured was supposed to be a garden. It looked worse than some of the shanty towns outside of Seattle.

Alec seemed just as unimpressed as she was, and snorted when they had to pause for a crew-guy who was carrying a giant, Styrofoam rock. They caught up to Logan a minute later, just as he reached the man in the orange windbreaker and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me," Logan started, "I'm Gary Sherwood, from Sherwood Acting Agency. This is Melissa Reynolds and Brian Whitman, the two best actors my agency has. Like I told your producer over the phone, I think they might be a good fit for the leads."

"Skip Kowalski," the man told them, exchanging a quick handshake with Logan. "I'm the director." His gaze shifted to Max and Alec. "Hmm…" he said thoughtfully, looking them up and down, and moving to circle around them slowly. Max tried not to fidget.

"Yeah," Skip continued at last, "yeah, I think these two'll be perfect!"

"That's what I thought you'd say," Logan smiled, playing the part of their agent, "Now, about their contracts-"

"You can straighten out the details when they're cleared with Mr. Malone. He has final say-so. He's in his trailer, over there," Skip responded, pointing to the one trailer on set that didn't look like it was falling apart. The _Mr_. Malone wasn't lost on Max either, and she eyed the director suspiciously, wondering whether he fit into the paid-off or the too-scared-to-talk category.

"Actually, Skip," a voice came from behind them, "I got the call when they came through the gate."

Max turned around, a little annoyed that she hadn't heard somebody walk up, but on a set like this, people moved around so much that it was probably gonna be hard to keep track of anyone.

Malone -- it had to be Malone -- stood a few feet a way. He was tall, with cold, blue eyes and brown hair, and he was dressed just like the Mafia-wannabe he was, all the way down to the slicked-back ponytail and tailored suit. He would've fit in better on the set of _The Godfather_, but Max figured that no one had felt like pointing that out to him. Cheesy fashion sense or not, if Logan was right, this guy was more dangerous than he looked.

"I think you're right. Those two are perfect for the parts. Good catch, Kowalski."

Skip swallowed.

"Thanks, Mr. Malone."

"Get them caught up. I've gotta talk contracts with Mr. Sherwood, here."

The director nodded, and Max watched as Logan followed Malone to his trailer

"So," Skip asked a moment later, "have you two worked together before?"

Alec blinked, his eyes focused on something across the set.

"What?" he asked.

"Have you worked together before?" Skip repeated, waving a hand at Max.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, we have," Alec responded absently.

Max frowned at his answer, then turned to see just what exactly Alec found so distracting…and scowled. It wasn't a _what_ it was a _who,_ a tall woman with long, wavy blonde hair and blue eyes.

Max was about to snap him out of it when Skip caught his stare and looked up

"Oh, good, Teresa!" Skip called, motioning the woman over. "Teresa," he started when she reached them, "this is Melissa Reynolds and Brian Whitman. They'll be replacing Jake and Olivia for the leads, Megan and James." Skip turned back to Max and Alec. "Melissa, Brian, this is Teresa Matthews. She's playing Kristen, Megan's romantic rival."

"It's nice to meet you," Teresa said, offering her hand.

_So this is the "hot" actress, huh? _Max scoffed silently, remembering Alec's words from earlier and trying not to let her irritation show as she returned the gesture. "It's nice to meet you too," she said out loud, forcing her expression into something close to a smile.

Teresa turned to offer her hand to Alec next, but he beat her to it. "Oh, the pleasure's all mine," Alec murmured, taking her hand and pulling her towards him a little. Teresa blushed, but didn't seem in a hurry to move.

A growl started low in Max's throat, but she managed to stop it before anyone noticed. Alec was her pretend-boyfriend, wasn't he? He could at least have the decency to act like one. It was just lucky that Logan wasn't here to see this. But for some reason, that didn't make her feel any better.

Thankfully, before she could think too much about why that was, Skip clapped his hands together enthusiastically, and Alec released his hold on Teresa.

_Took him long enough_, Max thought darkly.

"Okay, people," Skip began loudly, drawing the attention of the rest of the crew. When the set finally quieted down, he continued. "We've got our new leads, but we're way behind schedule, and we've got a lot of work to do. Let's do a quick run-through, and then Melissa and Brian," he nodded at Max and Alec, "can have a couple hours to memorize their lines." He turned to look at Max appraisingly. "We're starting with the scene when you two meet. You're real antagonistic. Think you can manage that?"

Alec stifled a laugh, and Max had to resist the urge to smack him.

"I'll give it a shot," she managed through gritted teeth.

"Good," Skip nodded. "Amy!" he shouted after a beat, "Amy, we need some scripts over here!"

"Got it, Boss!" someone shouted back. A stressed-out looking woman appeared a moment later, papers in hand. "Here's the script for the scene you'll be shooting this afternoon. Read it, memorize it," she ordered, shoving the scripts at them.

Frowning, Max scanned first page, her eyes automatically coming to rest on the title written at the top:

_Love Hurts_.

"Perfect," she muttered.

It was gonna be a long week.

**TBC…**

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A/N: I know actors can't usually waltz onto sets and be automatically cast in lead roles, but this is post-Pulse Hollywood, lol. They're not nearly as picky, and Max and Alec just for their looks would be great finds. Especially Alec… ;)

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think! The next chapter, should, Lord willing, be up in a few days.

Take care and God bless!

Ani-maniac494 :)


	2. Ready, Set, Go

Title: Movie Magic

Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get…complicated. MA.

Spoilers: Takes place sometime after "Love Among The Runes," but before "Freak Nation."

Disclaimer: FOX obviously decided they didn't want Dark Angel…can I have it instead?

A/N: For any Logan fans reading, I always do my best not to bash him in my fics, so please don't worry. He's not a bad guy in this story, and he won't be portrayed that way. Alec may take a few verbal shots at him, but nothing worse than he did on the show, and if Logan has a bad attitude towards Alec occasionally, it's just because he's still hurt by what happened with Max.

A/N2: I realized I forgot to thank my beta in the first chapter, so I wanted to thank her now. Darth Mom is the best beta (and Mom :) ) in the Star Wars galaxy and any other, and my fics would never be the same without her. She was kind enough listen to all my rambling and frustrations with this story, and read just about every draft of every chapter there was.

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**Movie Magic**

As far as missions went, Alec thought, this one wasn't too bad. It gave him the chance to meet and work with a beautiful actress, he was actually gonna be _paid _for it -- the contract Logan had worked out with Malone said so -- and he got to stay in the finest accommodations post-Pulse Hollywood had to offer. Alright, so post-Pulse Hollywood's "finest accommodations" consisted of a run-down trailer with a leaky roof, but he'd been in worse.

There was just one problem. There'd only been two trailers left. Alec had almost suggested that he and Max share a trailer and Logan could have his own, but Max would never have gone for it. And, seeing as Max couldn't exactly share with Logan because of the whole "if-she-touches-him-he-dies" thing, that meant Alec had to share with him instead.

Yep. Fun times.

He knew Logan didn't like him, and usually, he didn't let himself care. But the accusing looks Logan gave him now bothered him more than he wanted to admit. Because, even though he hadn't actually done anything to deserve it, it almost felt like he had. That was pretty ironic, considering that he hadn't even known what was going on until Max had finally told him.

If Alec was really honest, he was still a little angry about it. Yeah, he got why she did it, and he could even understand why she'd picked him. That didn't mean he had to like it, though. But, he'd promised Max he wouldn't say anything, and he wouldn't.

Unfortunately, being stuck under the same roof as Max's ex-not-like-that-boyfriend when he was playing the part of her new-convenient-pretend-boyfriend, meant he had to talk to the guy, whether he wanted to or not.

"So, have you found anything yet?" Alec asked.

Logan looked up from the laptop he'd brought, scowling before he managed to turn his expression into something a little more neutral.

"Not really. Then again, we just got here."

The clipped, slightly condescending answer wasn't totally unexpected. But, hey, he'd tried, right?

Alec sighed, and the trailer lapsed back into silence. He flipped idly through the script he held, but there wasn't really much point. Memorizing a few pages of dialogue was easy when you had a genetically enhanced memory. Let him read through it once or twice, and he could recite it backwards if needed to.

He glanced at his watch. They wouldn't be expected on set for another hour. Tossing the script on the small table in front of him, Alec pushed himself to his feet.

"I'm gonna go look around."

Logan look up again, surprise flickering across his features.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Alec shrugged. "I'm bored. Max probably is, too."

Logan's scowl returned and Alec almost smirked. Logan wanted to be petty, two could play at that game.

Smiling a little to himself, Alec walked out the door and down the steps. He wandered around aimlessly for a few minutes, no real particular destination in mind. He was almost tempted to really go see what Max was up to, but thought better of it. She'd been in a lousy mood, and he didn't need the extra bruises. After all, he had to look good for his close-up.

Deciding he might as well try to learn something useful, Alec turned and headed away from the set to check out the perimeter. The guards he'd seen when they drove in had been mostly concentrated around the entrance, but there were probably at least a couple lurking in the woods too.

He took a casual, meandering route through the forest, stopping to look at the scenery every few minutes, playing harmless nature-lover out for an afternoon stroll just in case anyone happened to be watching.

It didn't take long to spot the first guard, standing at the bottom of a hill. He was dressed head-to-toe in camouflage, a gun slung over his shoulder, and he was scanning the terrain around him every few minutes, his movements alert and precise. Unlike the guards at the entrance, this guy was real military.

Walking a little farther, Alec spotted another guard…and another… Surprised, he stopped and focused his eyes, letting his vision zoom in closer. Nope, he wasn't seeing things. There was a guard every couple hundred yards or so.

Alec frowned, thinking about the size of the set and the land around it, running some quick calculations in his head. If he was right, there were probably about forty guards total. And that was just the ones guarding the set _now_. There were probably others hanging around somewhere.

It wouldn't have been completely ridiculous to have that many security guards if the set was, say, in the middle of Seattle. But here, in the middle of nowhere, at the foot of the Canadian Rockies… Over-kill much?

Shaking his head, Alec turned around to go back…and froze, a noise catching his attention: voices. And they were getting closer. Thinking fast, his eyes darted up to the nearest tree. Most of the branches were pretty thin, but…

_There._

That one looked thick enough to hold his weight.

Bunching the muscles in his legs, he jumped, catching the branch with both hands before easily pulling himself up over it. He crouched, balancing on the balls of his feet, one hand pressed lightly against the bark of the trunk, the other resting on his thigh.

The voices of the guards grew louder, and a minute later they came into view, still scanning the forest around them as they talked.

But they didn't look up.

Alec watched silently as the guards passed beneath him, waiting until they were far enough away that he couldn't hear them anymore. When he was sure the coast was clear, he stood and stepped off the branch, effortlessly landing the fifteen-foot drop.

_That was close_, Alec thought, staring in the direction the guards had disappeared. At least he hadn't been seen, though. Max definitely would have had something to say about _that_.

Okay, he admitted reluctantly, so maybe he should have been a little more careful. After all, Logan had mentioned that the security was tight. But, then again, he'd been expecting rent-a-cops, not real military. There was a pretty big difference.

The question was, though, why exactly did Malone need so many guards for a movie set? Was he just really, really paranoid? Or was there something else on going on?

If Alec had to bet on it, he'd put his money on the second one.

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Max paced restlessly just outside the set. Growling, she forced herself to stop. She hadn't just spent all that time in hair and makeup so that she could mess it up. But she couldn't help being frustrated. They were supposed to start filming in twenty minutes and Alec wasn't anywhere to be seen.

She'd walked to his trailer a half an hour before, wanting to make sure he actually made it to the set on time, and didn't just stroll in late like he always did at Jam Pony. And, okay, maybe she had been just a little bit bored sitting by herself in her trailer…but he didn't need to know that.

Much to her annoyance however, when she'd stuck her head in the door and asked for Alec, Logan had given her a strange look and said he'd thought that Alec was with her.

Frustrated, but not really wanting to go back to her own trailer or stay inside to talk to Logan, she'd decided to just wait outside, until Alec came back from wherever he'd gone off to.

When he still hadn't show up, Max had finally walked over to hair and makeup, wondering if maybe Alec was already there. He hadn't been. So, twenty minutes later, she was wearing her costume, her hair was curled, her makeup was flawless, and her mood was even worse than it had been before.

If the idiot was with that actress he'd flirted with earlier, she was going to --

Thankfully, _the idiot _chose that moment to make an appearance.

"Where were you?" Max demanded as he walked towards her.

Alec shrugged.

"Just taking a look around, and filling Logan in."

Max's eyes narrowed. That sounded suspiciously…helpful. But Alec didn't _do_ helpful.

"Why?"

"Well, we are supposed to be on a mission here. I thought some intel might tell us exactly what we're getting into. Kinda glad I did too. I don't know about you, but if I'm gonna have to take on forty guards, I like a little warning."

Her annoyance left immediately.

"Forty?" she repeated, surprised.

He nodded.

"They're stationed around the parameter, every few hundred yards or so. They're military, Max."

Her eyes widened.

"You're sure?"

A smirk played on his lips.

"Sure? Nah. It's not like I've spent any time in the military or anything, so how would I know?"

Max felt her cheeks burn a little, but she resisted the automatic urge to smack him. He sort of had a point. She glared instead.

Of course, her luck being what it was, that also happened to be the moment Alec noticed what she was wearing. She watched his eyebrows arch as he took in her pink waitress's outfit, apron, and matching shoes. Just as quickly as it had left, her irritation returned full-force.

"Don't say anything," she growled.

She'd had a few choice words of her own when they'd given her the costume, but good actresses didn't complain about how ridiculous they looked, so she'd just grit her teeth and gone into the dressing room to change.

Alec grinned, his eyes sparkling with amusement, and something else she couldn't quite place.

"Me? Say something? I'd never dream of it."

Max gave him a look that clearly said how much she believed _that_, and shoved him in the direction of the makeup tent -- hard. His genetically-enhanced sense of balance was the only thing that kept him on his feet, but he just laughed, shaking his head at her, and ducked inside.

She followed behind him, still fuming.

The expression on his face when the makeup artist came at him with blush in-hand made her feel a little better, though.

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"Hello, sir, welcome to Mildred's Diner. I'll be your waitress, Megan. What can I get for you?"

"What do you recommend?"

"Well, sir-"

A charming grin.

"Please, call me James."

"Well, _sir_," she repeated, deliberately ignoring what he'd said, "The special is always good, and we have some great lunch options."

Another grin, this one even more flirtatious, as she reached forward to pour a glass of water for him from the pitcher she held.

"I'm sure I'll like anything on the menu as long as you're the one serving it."

The water she'd been pouring "accidentally" wound up down the front of his shirt.

"Oops, sorry about that," she smiled insincerely.

It was a little surreal, Logan thought, shaking his head. They were only acting, but the script might as well have been written for them. He had a good view from where he stood, a few feet off the set, just behind the camera crew, doing his best to the play his part for the mission, while Max and Alec played theirs.

"Cut!" Skip ordered. He turned to them, nodding his approval. "Great take, guys! Brian, head to wardrobe and tell them to dry out that shirt."

Alec nodded and slid out of the booth, glancing down at his shirt then giving Max a dirty look when Skip's back was turned.

She just smirked.

But, Logan didn't miss the way her smile softened a little as Alec walked off, and he couldn't help the now-familiar resentment that bubbled up in his chest. He pushed it back down, though, and turned away, watching as the crew set up the next shot, and Skip gave some stage directions to Max. Then, he slipped quietly towards the trailers.

He didn't think he'd be missed. Agents usually only stuck around to make sure that their actors' contracts were honored, a practice that hadn't started up until after the Pulse when honor had been the last thing the struggling remains of Hollywood had cared about.

There wasn't really a reason for him to stay.

Sighing, Logan roughly forced his thoughts back to safer territory: his investigation.

What Alec had told him about the guards just didn't make sense. The source who'd tipped him off about Malone had only mentioned the producers who'd disappeared, and Logan trusted the source enough to believe that if he _had_ known about the military presence, he would have told him.

It was possible that Malone just suspected someone was on to him and he'd gotten nervous, but as much as Logan hated to admit it, he agreed with what Alec had said earlier: _"'Nervous' is putting an extra lock on your door. Forty soldiers? That's taking paranoid to a whole new level."_

But then what was Malone really up to?

The records Logan had managed to dig up before they'd come here mentioned nothing about him having any connections to the military, though one of his mob friends might. But even if that was the case, it still didn't explain why Malone needed the military presence in the first place. Offing five movie producers didn't warrant that.

Logan paused, stopping to glance around. It was quiet here, away from the set, only the occasional crew-person passing by, probably running errands.

Realizing he wouldn't get a better opportunity, Logan headed towards Malone's trailer. If Malone was there, he could pretend that he had something he needed to discuss…but when he reached the small building, there was no sign of the producer. Frowning, the cyber-journalist thought back over the people he'd seen gathered on the set. He'd have to ask Max to be sure, but he didn't think Malone had been there either.

Filing that away to worry about later, Logan walked up the steps and tested the door. It was locked. Glancing around once more to make sure no one was watching, Logan jimmied the lock -- grateful that he'd asked Max to teach him that particular skill -- and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

The trailer was dark, but he was familiar enough with the layout from when he'd been inside it earlier to discuss Max and Alec's contracts. A desk sat at one end, and a couch that probably doubled as a bed sat at the other. A few cabinets lined the wall, just below posters for the movies Malone had worked on.

It looked surprisingly neat, and strangely normal. There were no clues tying Malone to the mob, or showing that he was capable of killing to get what he wanted -- not on the surface anyway. Logan hoped Malone had been careless enough to leave _something_ behind.

Turning to the filing cabinets, he opened the drawer closest to him and started searching through it.

Supply list, casting list, contracts…

But nothing useful.

Logan slipped the files carefully back into the drawer, and moved onto the other cabinets, frustrated when he realized they only held more of the same.

Finally, wondering if this had been a useless idea to begin with, he walked over to the desk and flipped idly through a few stacks of papers. Then his eyes came to rest on the answering machine. Deciding to take a chance, Logan activated the small menu on the machine. "Three saved messages," the screen read. He chose the option labeled "Play all."

"Saturday, September 3rd, 8:01pm," a tinny voice announced:

"_Hey, Mr. Malone, it's Bob Culver. I'm calling about the next project you're involved in, 'Tiger's Eye'? I heard you were looking for extras-"_

Logan stopped the message and jumped to the next one.

"Sunday, September 4th, 7:12 am:"

"_Mr. Malone, this is Judy O'Brien with Washington Meridian Insurance. Have you ever wondered what would happen to your loved ones if you were accidentally decapitated? Washington Meridian can help. It's the life insurance you can't live without! To learn more, call-"_

Logan fast-forwarded again.

"Monday, September 5th, 1:42pm:"

"_The package you ordered has arrived."_

Logan frowned, waiting for the message to continue, but it didn't. "End of messages," the answering machine declared a moment later. He replayed the message a few times, but that was all there was, nothing else, no mention of who was speaking, what the package was, or where to pick it up, just short and to the point.

Sighing, Logan looked down at his watch. He needed more time, but they'd probably be wrapping up filming soon, and while no one would think twice if he wasn't on set, getting caught searching the producer's trailer would definitely raise some uncomfortable questions.

He closed the answering machine menu and checked to make sure he'd put everything back where he'd found it, then headed for the door. He stopped just before he stepped outside, taking one last look around. Like before, there was nothing out of place. It looked like any ordinary producer's trailer on any ordinary movie set.

But, at least this trip hadn't been a total waste, he reminded himself. The message gave them something to go on. He just wished that it hadn't left them with more questions than answers.

**TBC…**

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A/N: Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!

Like before, the next chapter, should, Lord willing, be up in a few days…or sooner, lol, if you all twist my arm again. ;)

Take care and God bless!

Ani-maniac494 :)


	3. Not Just A River In Egypt

Title: Movie Magic

Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get…complicated. MA.

Spoilers: Takes place sometime after "Love Among The Runes," but before "Freak Nation."

Disclaimer: It's still not mine, but my birthday _is _coming up soon…maybe, someone will be generous? *looks hopeful*

**A/N: I wasn't planning to post this next chapter so early, but somehow, when I posted chapter two, the contents of chapter one were replaced, so there were duplicate chapters up. That problem has since been fixed, and chapter one is now once again where it is supposed to be. I'm really not sure what happened, especially because I checked them before I signed off, and they honestly appeared as separate chapters. Maybe FF.N did something strange, or it quite possibly it was something I did, but, no matter what, I still feel bad about it. So, to hopefully make it up to all of you, I'm posting chapter three now. :)**

My thanks to nexus432 and angelofdarkness78 for pointing out the problem, and to my wonderful friend Kat, for twisting my arm, lol. :)

I hope you enjoy it, and as always, please let me know what you think!

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**Movie Magic**

Three days.

They'd been on the set for three days. Three _very_ long, _very_ frustrating days.

The message Logan had found was, so far, a dead end, and the other searches they'd managed to do of Malone's trailer hadn't turned up anything else.

It wasn't the first time a mission hadn't gone down as planned -- actually, that was pretty much the norm. Missions that went off without a hitch were usually the exceptions to the rule. But that didn't mean Max had to like it.

She sighed, leaning back in the rickety chair she'd claimed, and tried to focus on the script in her lap. It didn't work. Glaring down at the pages in front of her, Max burrowed deeper into her jacket. It was a pretty warm day, considering, but it was still a far cry from summer weather, and her costume didn't help. She'd been able to ditch the pink waitress's outfit the day before, thankfully, but now she was stuck in a sundress with sunflowers plastered all over it. Why they'd picked a sundress when it was _September_, and they were in _Canada_, she had no idea.

Alec's costume -- of course -- was layered, a long-sleeve shirt with a button-up over that and a leather jacket. He didn't seem cold at all, and he actually looked _good_. How unfair was that?

Realizing she'd gotten lost in her thoughts again, Max forced her attention back to the script. A genetically-enhanced memory wouldn't do her any good if she couldn't concentrate. But just when she thought she'd finally cleared her head enough to actually read what was in front of her, a feminine laugh made her look up, and she scowled.

Alec was standing across the set talking to Teresa, and Teresa was laughing at whatever Alec had just said.

Teresa. Little miss "hot" actress. Max snorted. Yeah, right. She wasn't so great. So what if she wasn't stuck up at all? So what if she seemed like a genuinely nice, _friendly_ person? Max still didn't like her. Alec did, though, and had been flirting with her for the last three days straight. And Teresa flirted right back. It was pathetic. Not that Max cared. As long as Alec had the sense not to flirt with Teresa in front of Logan, he could do whatever he wanted.

Teresa laughed again, and pushed Alec playfully, shaking her head.

_Okay, that's it, _Max thought. Before she knew it, she'd stood up, and was stalking across the set towards them.

"Hey, Brian," she called.

Alec turned, an eyebrow quirking questioningly.

"What's up?"

"I wanted to ask if we could run lines." She motioned to the script in her hand, and managed a tight smile at Teresa.

Alec nodded.

"Sure."

He told Teresa he'd see her later, and Max grit her teeth. She relaxed a little as he fell in step beside her.

"So, what's the real reason you wanted to talk to me?" Alec asked when they were out of ear-shot. "Did Logan find something?"

Max's mouth opened and closed a few times, her mind racing to think of an excuse. Not that she needed one, because she'd had a perfectly good reason for getting Alec away from Teresa. She just…wasn't totally sure what that was yet.

Thinking fast, Max managed a nonchalant shrug. "We've got a couple hours to kill. I figured we could look around again, try to find something useful."

"Sounds good to me. Where do you wanna start?"

Max paused, mentally going over what they'd learned, trying to come up with an idea that didn't sound as spur-of-the-moment as it was.

"You said you think you figured out the guard rotation, right?" she asked eventually.

Alec nodded again.

He'd spent most of the last couple nights gathering intel, watching the guards around the parameter. When Max had asked why he was suddenly all "Mr. Responsible," he'd said that he'd gotten tired of listening to Logan snore.

She hadn't asked if there was more to it than that, because she didn't want to think about the tension between Logan and Alec. This was _her_ drama, and Alec, for once, hadn't actually done anything to deserve Logan's attitude. Not that she could really blame Logan for feeling the way he did, either.

"And the guards come from the north?" she continued, forcing her train of thought back on-track.

"North, north-west. I'm pretty sure there's a road up that way, but I haven't gotten close enough to look."

It was Max's turn to nod. That made sense. After all, the guards had to come from somewhere, and there was no way Malone was hiding forty guards on set. That meant they had to have a base of operations somewhere nearby. Problem was, actually getting to that base would be risky, and she had a feeling they weren't going to figure out what Malone was up to until they did. So, chances were, they were gonna be stuck on the set for a while. Just great.

Worse yet, she _still_ hadn't figured out what to tell Alec now, and he was starting too look at her funny. She was just about to ask _him _if he had any ideas -- yeah, so, she was desperate -- when she heard it.

Voices.

And one of them sounded angry.

She glanced at Alec, and he nodded. He'd heard it, too.

Max folded up her script and shoved it in her pocket -- at least the stupid dress _had_ pockets -- and moved closer. Alec followed behind her. They stuck to the shadows in case anybody happened to be watching, but thankfully, this part of the set was quiet, and the trailers were good cover. It didn't take long to get near enough to see what was going on.

Malone and Skip were standing in front of Skip's trailer, Malone's face twisted into a scowl as he stared down at the director.

"I want to know what's taking so long," he growled.

"Mr. Malone, sir, with all due respect," Skip started, looking pale and nervous under the other man's glare, "we've already doubled the shooting schedule. We're almost caught up. In another week-"

"You don't _have_ another week. You've got five days. Five days. Any longer than that, and I'll scrap the project."

"Sir-"

"You've got a family, right…wife, kids?"

If it was possible, Skip got even paler.

"Y-yes, I do, but-"

"And you want to get paid, don't you? If I scrap the project, your pay goes with it to cover costs. It's in your contract." Malone smiled coldly. "You don't want me to scrap the project, now, do you Skip?"

"N-no, sir."

"Then in five days, I can expect to have a finished film?"

Skip nodded adamantly.

"Yes, Mr. Malone."

"Now, that's what I like to hear. I knew I could count on you, Skip."

He slapped Skip on the shoulder, making the smaller man wince, and walked off. Skip sat down hard on the steps in front of his trailer and didn't move.

"Well, Malone's a shoe-in for producer of the year," Alec muttered, still watching the shell-shocked director.

Max snorted.

"No kidding." She frowned. "Question is…why does he wanna rush production? Movie gets made, he gets paid. What's so important that he'd risk losing that much cash, and probably getting in hot water with the studio too?"

Alec shrugged.

"Don't know. But whatever it is, we've got five days left to figure it out."

Max nodded, thinking about how frustrated she'd been earlier. Well, at least now she didn't have to worry about being stuck on the set for much longer.

Figuring they'd seen everything they were going to, she turned and started heading back the way they had come. Alec fell into step beside her. He didn't say anything for once, which surprised her. She was even more surprised a second later, though, when his arm slipped around her shoulders.

She stiffened and tried to twist out of his grip, but Alec tightened his hold on her, tilting his head imperceptibly.

Max followed his gaze and immediately forced herself to relax. Malone was standing outside his trailer, watching them. Keeping up the act, she leaned into Alec's side a little more, and tried not to squirm. It wasn't uncomfortable…but that was the problem. It was actually kind of…nice.

Max blinked. She had _not _just thought that. She hadn't.

Had she?

"I knew it. You do like me!"

Max froze.

"W-what?" she managed.

Alec sighed.

"Let me guess, you forgot your line?"

Her line?

Max blinked again.

Oh, yeah. Right. Her line.

Alec was just following the script. Made sense, since that's what they were supposed to be practicing.

Max tried to dredge up the next line from memory.

"I…I don't like you," she refused finally.

"Sure you do. You just don't know it yet."

This time, Max _did_ shove him away -- she was actually supposed to do that so it didn't look strange. She ignored the small pang she felt at the loss of warmth, and glared.

"You're delusional," she spat and stalked off.

A minute later, Alec appeared beside her again. She glanced at him questioningly.

"We're clear," he assured. "Malone went back inside."

"Think he's suspicious?"

"Yeah. But a guy like that is probably suspicious of everybody. As long as we stay out of his way, I don't think he'll pay much attention to us."

Max nodded, feeling some of the tension drain out of her shoulders. If there was one thing they didn't need, it was another complication. She started walking again, and she felt Alec's eyes following her…but that was it. He hadn't moved.

"What?" she demanded finally, turning back to face him.

Alec just looked at her, his gaze more scrutinizing than usual, like she was a puzzle he couldn't quite figure out. "You tell me. You've been acting weird the last few days."

"I have not. I'm just…tired."

"Tired," Alec repeated.

Max glared at him again, this time for real.

"Yeah,_ tired_. It happens," she defended. "Besides," she sneered, "checked yourself out in a mirror lately? You look like you've got raccoon DNA."

Alec shrugged.

"Maybe, but I've got Mr. You-Stole-My-Girlfriend as a roommate. Like I said, he snores. What's your excuse?"

Before Max could come up with an answer -- and what _was it _with people interrupting her today? -- Teresa's annoyingly cheerful greeting cut her off.

"Melissa! Brian!" she called, running up. "I'm glad I caught you. We've still got an hour before filming starts, and I thought I'd grab some lunch. Do you guys wanna come with me?"

Max gave her a thin smile.

"No, but thanks anyway."

Teresa turned to Alec. "What about you?"

"Lunch sounds good to me."

_Oh, of course it does, _Max thought, aggravated. _We finally get somewhere with this stupid mission, and Alec wants to take off. Typical._

Teresa hesitated, biting her lip.

"You're sure you don't want to come with us, Melissa?" she asked.

_Like I'd want to spend my lunch watching Alec flirt with you. I'm nauseated enough already._

"I'm sure," Max said aloud.

Alec glanced at Max as if to say, "have it your way," and turned to Teresa, giving her his most charming smile.

"After you," he said with a flourish.

Teresa laughed, and they walked off together, probably headed for the picnic tables that doubled as the crew's cafeteria. Max watched them go, trying to ignore the irritation she felt. Yeah, Alec had ditched her, but Teresa had invited her too, and she'd said no. Besides, Logan wasn't around, so there wasn't any reason for Alec to play the loyal boyfriend. He could do whatever he wanted, _with_ whoever he wanted.

Glaring at Alec's retreating back, Max turned, and started for the set again. This time, she actually made it. She knew she should really find Logan and tell him what they'd learned, but she just didn't feel like dealing with him right now.

Logan could wait.

She took her wrinkled script out of her pocket, and sat back down in the chair she'd claimed earlier. Might as well make sure she actually had the thing memorized.

Her eyes unconsciously fell on the section Alec had picked to play out for Malone's benefit.

"I don't like you," she muttered under her breath.

And she didn't.

She didn't like Alec at all.

Really.

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"You okay?"

Teresa's question was enough to pull him from his thoughts, and Alec blinked, looking up from the weathered picnic table and his half-eaten lunch.

"What?"

"You just look like you have something on your mind," she explained.

Alec sighed. Teresa was right, sort of. He did have something on his mind. Or some_one_, anyway. He just couldn't figure out what Max's problem was. She'd been acting weird for the last few days, and it was bugging him enough that he'd actually called her on it. Not that it had done much good.

He could usually snap her out of it when she got like this -- even if it did earn him a few more bruises -- but, then, Logan and their on-again, off-again relationship was usually the reason for her bad mood, so that made it pretty easy.

This time was different somehow though, and Alec wasn't sure what to do.

"Earth to Brian?"

Alec blinked again. He really had to stop doing that.

"Sorry," he apologized, automatically giving her an easy smile. "You're just so beautiful I can't concentrate."

Teresa stared at him for a second and then snorted, rolling her eyes. "Wow, that was cheesy. Where did you dig up that line from?"

"Hey, I happen to like that line," he defended. And he did. It was apparently great for distracting beautiful actresses when they caught you thinking about your irritable pretend-girlfriend.

Teresa just smiled, shaking her head at him, and took a bite of her sandwich. The silence that followed was comfortable, and Alec let himself relax a little.

"So," he asked finally, wanting to change the subject and figuring now was as good a time as any to bring it up, "do you know what the deal is with all the guards?"

"I take it you mean all the military guys?"

Alec nodded.

"I'm not really sure. Mr. Malone said something about there being threats made against the movie, so he hired extra security."

"Kind of over-kill, don't you think?"

Teresa shrugged.

"I guess. But better safe than sorry, you know? And after he moved the set, he probably didn't want to take any chances."

"Wait a minute, he fired the lead actors _and_ moved the set too?"

That didn't sound like something a smart producer usually did. And Alec was pretty sure that Malone wasn't stupid.

Teresa nodded.

"Yeah, Mr. Malone insisted that the other location wasn't 'rural' enough. But my agent told me that he's managed to keep it pretty quiet. He didn't want the studio to worry about budget issues. Makes me wonder where he found the money, though. Moving everything and everybody that far couldn't have been cheap." Teresa shrugged. "I'm not complaining. I was cast early, and I was on location when he announced the move, so I'm getting paid extra for travel."

"Where was the set supposed to be originally?"

"A few miles outside of what used to be Winnipeg, before the Pulse."

Alec frowned, going over the geography in his head. Considering that they were at the foot of the Canadian Rockies, that _was_ pretty far.

He was tempted to push a littler more, see if Teresa knew anything else about what was going on, but he didn't want to risk making her suspicious.

"Winnipeg," he said instead. "Can't say I've seen it. What it's like?"

Pretty soon, they were trading stories about the places their careers had taken them. Alec didn't even have to lie, he just…edited the facts a little. So what if Manticore hadn't sent him to Russia to film a movie? He'd still been there.

He was just about to impress Teresa by speaking a few words in Russian, when he spotted Skip's PA, Amy, coming towards them.

"Teresa!" she called, hurrying over to their table. "Skip asked me to find you. He decided to start early, and he wants to do a run-through with you before they set up the next shot."

Teresa nodded.

"Thanks, Amy. I'll be right there."

The busy production assistant headed off, and Teresa turned back to Alec, offering him a smile. "Duty calls," she said, pushing herself up from the picnic table. "See you later." She paused. "That is, unless, you and Melissa already have plans."

Alec almost choked on his sandwich. He hadn't seen one that coming.

He forced himself to swallow and cleared his throat. "Why would Melissa and I have plans?" he asked, managing to sound casual.

Teresa arched an eyebrow at him.

"Because for someone you just work with, she seems awfully _upset _that we've been hanging out so much."

Alec grimaced. She'd noticed that, huh?

He thought about saying that they used to date and Max was a jealous ex, but decided against it. No telling what Max would do if she found out. He went the safer route instead.

"Look, it's not what you're thinking. Melissa and her boyfriend called things off a couple months ago," he explained, leaving out the fact the he was her pretend-replacement. "It was a bad break-up. She's been biting everybody's head off ever since."

"Really?"

He nodded, and Teresa studied him for a long moment, frowning. A minute later, though, she relaxed, apparently willing to accept the story.

"So," she said finally, "Melissa won't mind if I ask you to have dinner with me tonight?"

Alec grinned. "She might, but I don't."

Teresa smiled back.

"8:00, same picnic table?"

"Sounds good to me."

Teresa's smiled grew, and she winked at him before turning and walking in the direction of the set.

Alec didn't let himself lose the grin until she was gone. Man, that had been close.

He didn't mind playing Max's boyfriend for Logan -- well, he did, but he was willing to go along with it. Teresa was different though, and he didn't plan on letting her think he was already taken. Besides, "Melissa" and "Brian" were supposed to be coworkers, nothing else. Changing their story now would only attract attention they didn't need.

But, at least it wasn't all bad. He'd gotten some new intel they could use, plus the added bonus of a date, and if anybody else noticed Max's attitude, he could just give them the same story he'd given Teresa.

Alec frowned.

Max's attitude…

That was the weird part. Max had always been on his case about the women he went after, sure, but, well…if he didn't know better, he'd think Max really _was_ jealous.

He snorted.

Right. Sure. Max was jealous, and Logan was gonna swear-off pasta and pre-pulse wine for life.

The funny thing was, though, even if by some wild stretch of the imagination Max actually felt that way, she didn't have anything to be jealous _of._

Yeah, he liked Teresa. She was just as hot in person as she was on screen, she had a good sense of humor, and she appreciated the fine art of flirting. It wasn't like he was gonna turn down a date with her. But, strange as it sounded -- especially coming from him -- he wasn't really interested. She just…

_Isn't Max_, some part of his brain unhelpfully supplied.

Alec almost groaned out loud.

It wasn't the first time he'd caught himself comparing a woman to Max. It had just been happening more and more lately. He'd brushed it off at first. After all, he spent more time with her than just about anyone else, at work, at Crash, on missions, at TC… It made sense that he'd think about her a lot.

But then Max had started creeping into his thoughts at other times, too. Funny things would remind him of her -- like he'd see cherry lip gloss and think of her, 'cause that was her favorite kind…and he hadn't even realized he _knew _her favorite kind of lip gloss. Those moments he'd started writing off as some weird side-effect of Max declaring him her "boyfriend," and Logan's speech about "treating her right."

But it was getting harder to ignore, the way his thoughts kept turning to her, and Alec wasn't sure what to do about it, or even really _why_ it was happening.

It wasn't like he was interested in Max or anything. Yeah, he enjoyed taking a few cheap-shots at Logan sometimes, but that was just a little not-so-friendly rivalry…

Alec paused. Rivalry? Had he seriously just thought of Logan as his rival? Who was he kidding? Rival for what? Max's affections? He snorted at the thought. Her idea of affection was to hit him upside the head. Why would he want to be with someone like that? No thanks. He was happy with things just the way they were. Well, okay, he could have done without the hitting part, but nothing was perfect.

Yep, he was absolutely fine with being Max's…whatever he was right now.

He didn't want things to change.

Really.

**TBC…**

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A/N: There probably will be an actual day or two between postings this time, lol, because I'm going to be a little busier for the next couple days. But the next chapter should, Lord willing, be up by Thursday at the absolute latest. :)

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!

Take care and God bless!

Ani-maniac494 :)


	4. The Plot Thickens

Title: Movie Magic

Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get…complicated. MA.

Spoilers: Takes place sometime after "Love Among The Runes," but before "Freak Nation."

Disclaimer: I don't own it. I have the DVDs, and one of my friends was kind enough to give me the books, but that's as close as I get. *sighs*

A/N: So, it's 1:00 in the morning, and technically Friday now…*blushes* I'm sorry this wound up a little late! Today turned out to be even busier than I thought it would be. But, hopefully, this chapter will help make up for it, lol, and I will do my best to update again tomorrow. :)

Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed, and everyone who is reading!

As always, I hope you'll enjoy it, and please let me know what you think!

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**Movie Magic**

Logan stood in his usual spot on the set, watching as the crew hurried to set up the next scene, the prop guys making last minute adjustments, the camera man checking the shot's angle. Skip was in the middle of it all, calling out orders and somehow managing to talk into his radio at the same time. The set was always chaotic, but that still looked a little strange…like the director was in even more of a hurry than usual.

Logan frowned. He'd gotten to know Skip better over the last few days, and while he wasn't a hundred percent sure, he had a feeling Skip wasn't part of whatever Malone was doing. That was the problem, though. All he _had_ was a feeling. That was why he hadn't tried to talk to Skip before, why he'd been careful not to let anything slip that didn't fit with Gary Sherwood of the Sherwood Acting Agency.

Now, though, they were running out of options. Max and Alec had told him about the argument they'd heard, the threats Malone had been making. If the producer was serious, then they only had five days left…assuming they even had that many. Malone was obviously getting impatient about something, and it wasn't hard to imagine him moving up the deadline.

Either way, they didn't have much of a choice anymore. Skip was the best shot they had at finding out what was really going on. And while talking to him was risky…it might just be worth it.

Logan walked closer to the director and cleared his throat. Skip turned at the noise.

"Something I can do for you, Mr. Sherwood?"

"I was hoping you could shed some light on some rumors I've heard."

"Rumors?" Skip frowned. "What kind of rumors?"

"I've heard that if the film isn't finished in five days, it's going to be scrapped."

Skip's eyes widened a little at that, his grip tightening on the radio he held.

"Where did you hear that?"

"You have to understand," Logan continued, deliberately not answering the question, "Melissa and Brian will lose a lot of money if the project is shut down, and as their agent, I'm responsible. I need to know, is the rumor true?"

Skip wavered a moment, his gaze darting to crew working around them. "Whoever told you that had their facts mixed up," he said finally.

"Are you sure?" Logan asked pointedly. He could see that Skip was close to talking. Maybe he just needed a push in the right direction. "Listen," he added more quietly, "if you know something, or if there's something going on here…I might be able to help."

Skip drew back a little at that, his expression somewhere between disbelieving and hopeful. He hesitated a second longer, then sighed. "Hold on," he said. He moved a few feet away, sticking the radio in his pocket as he went. "Hey, Jake!" he called out.

"Yeah, boss?" one of the crew answered.

"I'm goin' on another coffee run. Be back in five."

The man gave him a distracted thumbs-up, and Skip turned back to Logan, leading him off the main part of the set.

They walked for a few minutes until they reached a battered trailer that didn't look much better than the one Logan was sharing with Alec. The only real difference Logan could see was the hastily scribbled sign hanging above the door, marking it as the director's.

Skip cast an uneasy look at Malone's trailer before stepping inside. Logan followed behind him.

"Coffee?" the director asked, motioning to a run-down coffee maker in the corner.

Logan nodded, and a few minutes later, they were both sitting at a small card table that doubled as the trailer's kitchen.

Skip set his cup down on the table and sighed.

"What you heard, it's true. Mr. Malone wants the movie done as soon as possible. He gave me five days to finish filming here."

"Do you know why?"

"No, and I don't plan on asking him." Skip rubbed the back of his neck tiredly, and sighed again. "Look, I'm real sorry about this, but I'm doing my best to finish the film in the time we've got, and make sure everybody gets paid like they're supposed to. There's nothing else I can do."

Logan frowned, thinking about how reluctant Skip had been to say anything on the set.

"The crew doesn't know about this, do they?"

Skip shook his head.

"Not yet. Not really sure what I'm gonna tell 'em, either."

Logan took a drink of his own coffee, using the time to figure out how he wanted to approach this. He didn't plan to tell Skip the truth, but he needed to find out how much the director really knew.

"Have you tried talking to the studio?" he asked at last.

Skip shook his head.

"Take it from me, that wouldn't do any good. What Malone wants, he gets."

Something in his tone caught Logan's attention.

"What do you mean?"

Skip gave him a long, measuring look, then seemed to slump a little in his seat.

"You're probably gonna say I'm crazy, but I found out that the last few jobs Malone has gotten, he got because the producer before him disappeared."

"And you think he had something to do with that?" Logan was careful to put just enough doubt in his tone that he came off sounding skeptical, but curious.

Skip ran an unsteady hand through his hair.

"I didn't believe it at first. I thought it was just a coincidence. I mean, yeah, things have changed a lot since the Pulse, but Hollywood is still Hollywood. Little things get blown out of proportion real easy. But one of the producers who went missing, Jeff Rogers…I knew him. We worked on a coupla films together. He was a decent guy. Had a good eye, you know? I got a call from him a few weeks back, saying he'd gotten a new job, some new project he was really excited about. Then he disappeared and Malone was tagged as the movie's producer. I thought it was just the way things were. I mean they had to find somebody to replace Jeff, right? But after I got called about working here, I started hearing rumors that Malone had taken over other films when their producers vanished, and that's…that's when I knew."

"If you knew what Malone was doing," Logan wondered, "why did you still take the job?"

Skip shrugged.

"I've got a family. Kids. Makin' movies doesn't pay a whole lot these days…but it's what I'm good at, and it puts food on the table. I figure if I don't ask too many questions, don't rock the boat, Malone won't make _me_ disappear."

Logan nodded. He'd heard similar stories before. In a post-pulse world, people sometimes had to do desperate things to make sure their families were provided for. They took risks they wouldn't have otherwise, because they just didn't have a choice. Going to the authorities was usually out of the question, too. There were still a few good cops out there, but corruption was wide-spread enough that most people wanted to take their chances alone.

"Did you know any of the other producers who've gone missing?" Logan asked.

Skip shook his head. "No, but I heard a lot about one of 'em. Chris Jackson. His reputation got around more than he did." He snorted softly. "Probably ain't a lot of people mourning the loss."

"I take it he had a lot of enemies."

"That's one way to put it. Jackson was a real piece of work. He tried to dig up dirt on just about everybody, and when he found it, he wasn't afraid to use it. If another producer got a job he wanted, he'd go public, air all their dirty laundry. Saw it as taking out the competition. Didn't matter if what he found was true or not, either. He ruined a lot of careers that way."

_No wonder he won't be missed, _Logan thought, making a mental note to look up Chris Jackson again. He'd seen the name when he'd first gotten the tip from his informant, but he hadn't looked into the missing producers' backgrounds very deeply. There hadn't seemed to be a reason to, since on the surface, all their records had turned up clean. He'd thought they'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and gotten in Malone's way. But maybe there was more to it.

"Skip, I really appreciate you telling me all of this," Logan said gratefully. "I wish there was something I could do to help." _And hopefully, there will be, _he added silently. "I won't say anything to Melissa and Brian unless I have to."

The director nodded, looking relieved.

"Thanks. I promise I'm doing my best to get this thing done as fast as possible." He glanced down at his watch. "Speakin' of which, I've gotta get back to the set. Melissa and Brian should be out of makeup and wardrobe now, if you wanna come back with me and watch 'em work."

Logan shook his head.

"Thanks for the offer, but actually, I have some new contracts I need to look over." He smiled wryly. "An agent's work is never done."

Skip smirked a little at that, and headed for the door. Logan followed him out, then walked the short distance to his own trailer.

He powered up his laptop as soon as he was inside. He didn't have internet access out here, but he'd brought all his files with him. Hopefully, combined with the information he had now, that would be enough.

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"So, you actually found something this time?"

Alec's question earned him a glare from Logan, and usually would earn him one from Max too, but right now, she just wanted to get this over with. The small trailer was cramped with the three of them in it, and even though she was being careful to stay as far away from Logan as possible, he still seemed way too close. Her costume -- now a sleeveless shirt and jeans -- was the most normal-looking thing she'd been able to wear lately, but it also meant a lot of exposed skin. And since they'd come straight here from filming, she hadn't remembered to bring her jacket with her.

As though he'd somehow read her mind, Alec shrugged out of his jacket and held it out to her.

"Here," he said.

Max stared at it for a few seconds, caught off guard, then gratefully took the coat from him.

"Thanks," she said softly, surprised.

"No problem."

She slipped into the jacket quickly, and tried to ignore the way Alec's familiar scent surrounded her, calming her nerves, just a little. Something must have shown on her face though, because when she turned back to Logan, he was watching her, jealousy obvious in his eyes. But, then he must have realized what she'd seen, and he looked away, clearing his throat uneasily.

"I did find something," he started, trying to sound normal. "A lot, actually." He clicked a few keys on his laptop, and continued. "I've been working under the assumption that the producers who disappeared all vanished after they got jobs Malone wanted for himself. That was the tip I got from my informant, and it fits with what we know. All of the disappearances were reported just before the studios announced they were hiring Malone. Chris Jackson, one of the producers, disappeared right before Malone signed on to a movie called, 'Meant To Be.' But here's the thing. I managed to track down a copy of the studio's records. As far as I can tell, Malone was slated to be the film's producer all along. Jackson was never even involved in the project. So…"

"So, Malone shouldn't have had a reason to get rid of him," Max supplied.

Logan nodded.

"He did get rid of him, though. Any idea why?" Alec wondered.

"Well, apparently, Chris Jackson had a reputation for not taking it well if another producer got a job he wanted."

Alec snorted.

"Sounds familiar."

"It does. But unlike Malone, Jackson didn't kill anyone. Seems he liked to do things the old-fashioned Hollywood way: slander. When another producer got a job he wanted, he launched a PR campaign to run them out of town."

"Bet that made him real popular," Max said dryly.

Logan smirked a little at that. "My guess, Jackson wanted to be named as the producer for 'Meant To Be,' but Malone got the job instead. So, he started digging, only instead of some juicy gossip, he found out about the missing producers and put two and two together."

"Makes sense," Max agreed. "Jackson hit actual dirt this time, and Malone had him taken out before he could talk."

"That's what I was thinking. And, it gets better. I'm pretty sure I know what Jackson found. I started looking at the deeds for the land the set is on now, trying to figure out why Malone moved everything out here. Turns out the land used to belong to a lumber company."

Max frowned.

"Used to? Who does it belong to now?"

Logan gave her a satisfied smile.

"None other than Tony De Luca, head of one of Seattle's biggest a mafia families."

"Let me guess," Alec said wryly, "Eddy Malone just happens to be old pals with Tony De Luca?"

Logan's smile grew.

"Yep. And, coincidentally, there also happens to be a small, private air field about half a mile north of here. The lumber company used it for surveying and transporting loggers to some of the more isolated terrain."

"An air field, huh? That would sure come in handy if you had something to hide, wouldn't it?"

"It definitely would," Logan agreed.

Max glanced at Alec, silently asking if he was thinking the same thing she was. He nodded.

She turned back to Logan.

"So, when do we leave?" she asked aloud.

**TBC…**

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A/N: The next chapter will be up soon! And then you'll actually get to find out just what Malone is up to. :)

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!

Take care and God bless!

Ani-maniac494 :)


	5. The Creature Shop

Title: Movie Magic

Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get…complicated. MA.

Spoilers: Takes place sometime after "Love Among The Runes," but before "Freak Nation."

Disclaimer: *looks in pockets* Um…I have lint. If you'd like to take that, you're welcome to. But I don't own Dark Angel.

A/N: I know the last chapter was mostly exposition, but I had to get the out of the way first, lol. This next chapter has a little more action in it. :)

I just wanted to say thank you to Alec's Angel and candy for their very kind reviews, and of course, everyone else too! :)

I hope you enjoy this next chapter, and please let me know what you think!

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**Movie Magic**

They'd decided to check out the air field after dark since that was when the set was the quietest, and they were least likely to get caught. It wasn't hard to sneak past the trailers. The guards posed a little more of a challenge, but Alec and Max managed to stay in the trees most of the way, jumping from branch to branch. When the branches thinned out too much, the growth on forest floor was thick enough to hide them until they reached the road Alec had seen while doing recon.

The 'road' turned out to be more of a dirt path, but it wasn't being watched, and after a few minutes of hiking, they reached the air field.

It wasn't much to look at. The largest building, the hanger, sat near the end of the runway, surrounded by a few other, smaller buildings, and a couple storage sheds. It looked like it hadn't been used for a while, but the light reflecting in the windows made it pretty obvious that it wasn't as abandoned as it was supposed to be.

Alec frowned.

Things had been easy so far, but crossing that runway was going to be tricky. It was basically just a long stretch of blacktop that offered no cover, and if they got caught, they'd be sitting ducks out there. Well, Alec supposed, they just have to _not_ get caught.

He turned to Max and smirked.

"Ladies first," he said.

Max rolled her eyes and started forward. He followed behind her, keeping low to the ground as he moved.

There were a couple bored-looking guards on sentry duty around the hanger, so they stuck to the shadows and skirted the perimeter, looking for an opening.

"This isn't gonna be like that time we got stuck in a closet, is it?" Alec whispered.

"Why," Max demanded, glancing back at him, "you got somewhere else to be?"

"Actually, yeah. Teresa asked me to have dinner with her."

He could have been wrong, but he thought he saw Max's jaw clench a little at that.

"Well, your love life will to wait," she snapped finally. "This is more important."

Alec frowned at her reaction, but he didn't get the chance to say anything. The guards they'd been watching apparently did routine sweeps of the area, and they chose that moment to start one. Max and Alec waited until the guards had turned the corner, then blurred across the runway.

They would have had a problem actually getting into the place -- turned out hangers didn't usually have a whole lot of doors to chose from -- but one of the windows on the far wall was broken, the glass completely missing. It was pretty high up on the building, but a 10 foot jump wasn't a challenge for a transgenic.

Max went first again, and Alec didn't argue. He knew that was how she wanted it, and at least that way he could watch her back. A problem in front of her, she could probably deal with alone, but ambushes had a nasty way of sneaking up behind you. That, she'd need help with.

But, for once, there's weren't any ambushes _or_ problems -- yet -- and the window led to a dark corridor lined with some old shipping crates.

"Wow," Alec couldn't resist saying, "Malone really is evil. He's hiding crates. The injustice of it all!"

Predictably, Max hit him.

"Idiot," she growled. "Maybe he's _shipping _something _in_ the crates. Ever think of that?"

Alec arched an eyebrow at her and pried the lid off the nearest one. It was empty. Well, for the most part, anyway.

"Oh, look, straw. We're doomed."

Max hit him again. Hard.

"If there's nothing here, then we'll just have to keep looking," she hissed. "Now, hurry up and come on. After all, you're the one who was whining about missing your precious _date_."

Okay, he definitely hadn't imagined the bitterness in her voice that time…

They walked around for a few minutes, dodging the occasional guard, and finding yet more crates. Alec was starting to believe that really was _all_ they were going to find, when they reached the end of the hallway. Evidently, the hanger was designed with smaller storage areas ringing the walls, and a main, open area that was intended for the planes themselves.

But planes weren't being kept there now.

Sitting in a back corner was a large cage. That alone wasn't really shocking -- Alec was pretty familiar with cages. He'd been inside them too many times not to be. But what caught him off guard was the woman in the cage. A tall woman with long, black hair, blue eyes, and stripes. Stripes.

A transgenic. Malone's 'package' was a transgenic.

Alec and Max shared a look and moved closer, using some of the lower-lying crates as cover.

She was a transhuman, that much was obvious. She was wearing a battered Manticore-issue black vest and gray fatigues. Her eyes were a deep, teal blue, and fangs were visible when she snarled. Her features looked mostly human, but her skin was strikingly pale…except for the stripes.

There might have been a few other things mixed in, but for some reason, Alec had a feeling "white tiger" was probably a pretty big part of her cocktail.

She actually looked kind of cool…in a weird, freaky sort of way.

A large company of guards was stationed around her cage. They were all well-armed, and several of them had what Alec could only call cattle-prods. That was probably what they used to keep her in line.

Alec grimaced, and Max tensed next to him.

"We have to get her out of there," she said lowly, starting forward. Alec realized what she was doing and caught her just in time. He pulled her back down.

"Max, we can't."

"What?!" she demanded. "Why not?!"

Alec sighed.

"Listen, I get it, okay? I do, really. But right now, there's two of us, and a lot more of them. We have to play this smart, or we'll wind up in there with her."

Max looked like she was ready to argue -- big surprise -- when the sound of a familiar voice echoed through the room, making them both freeze.

Malone.

He was walking towards the cage with a tall Hispanic man, who had dark hair and even darker eyes, and a bearing that screamed military-for-hire. The insignia on his uniform identified him as a Colonel, but Alec had a feeling that he didn't take orders from anyone, no matter what their rank.

Malone didn't look happy.

"Mr. De Luca might have hired you," the producer was growling, "but right now, you're working for me, and I expect you to do your job."

"My _job_ is to protect Mr. De Luca's interests, not yours. You would be wise to remember that."

Malone's eyes narrowed.

"Is that a threat, Rodriguez?"

The Hispanic man shrugged.

"What if it is? You forget who does your dirty work, Malone. You might order the hits, but we get rid of the bodies. What do you think would happen if one of those bodies just happened to wind up on the Seattle PD's doorstep?"

It seemed like Malone wanted to make a threat of his own right then, but Rodriguez had the advantage for the moment, and Malone knew it.

"You say you're here to protect Mr. De Luca's interests," he said at last, his voice tightly controlled. "You take me out of the picture, and you'll wind up costing him a lot of money."

"How? All we've done for the last couple weeks is guard this thing. My men are getting restless, Malone. And I really don't like it when people waste my time."

Most _people_ would probably have been worried by the not-so-subtle warning, but instead, the producer actually managed to look smug.

"Is that what you think this is? A waste of your time?"

Rodriguez shrugged again.

"You haven't given me a reason to think it's anything else."

Malone paused, obviously considering the pros and cons of what he was about to do. Apparently, the pros won out. He stepped closer to the cage, just outside the bars. The transhuman woman snarled and charged at him immediately, only to be hit by a cattle-prod from one of the guards. She gave a half-human roar of pain and staggered back.

Alec felt Max tense next to him again, and put a restraining hand on her arm.

"Did you see that?" Malone asked, turning back to the Colonel.

Rodriguez looked totally unimpressed.

"It's a freak with stripes."

"Oh, but she's so much more than that," the producer disagreed. "These days, Hollywood is a joke. You make a movie, you sell a couple thousand copies at best. But, if people learn they can see something like her in a movie? They won't be able to get enough of it." Malone smiled. "Mr. De Luca agrees."

"So," Rodriguez summarized, "in exchange for his help getting this thing to where it's supposed to be, you're giving him a share of the profits?"

"Mr. De Luca understands that there's a profit to be made." Malone paused. "Do you?" he asked pointedly.

Rodriguez gave him a measuring look.

"What are you offering?"

"I know Mr. De Luca is paying you for your services here, but I can double that. All I need is a few more days. By then, filming here will be finished, and we'll be able to move her."

"You sure about that?" the Colonel asked. "That's what you told me a week ago when you fired those actors. You said the movie would be scrapped. It wasn't."

Alec blinked.

No wonder it seemed like Malone was doing everything he could to stop the movie from being made. He was. He wanted to stop production on one film so he could get started on the next one, his transgenic prize in tow. Pretty ironic, considering that he already had _two_ transgenics staring in the movie he was trying to shut down.

Malone grit his teeth.

"I told you, I thought the studio would call the film a lost cause. They didn't. That left me no choice but to hire replacements. The studio would have been suspicious if I hadn't."

Rodriguez seemed satisfied enough with that answer.

"Fine," he said at last. "You double our pay, and my men and I will stick around, and make sure no one from the set gets curious. But any longer than that, Malone, and we'll have to renegotiate."

Malone still didn't look very happy, but he nodded in agreement. Rodriguez moved closer to the cage, studying the transhuman appraisingly.

"How did you get your hands on this thing, anyway?" he asked.

Malone shrugged.

"You've got your connections, I've got mine. The acquaintance who sold her to me says she's changed hands a few times, but she was originally bought off of one of the scientists who worked at that Manticore place. He swapped her for a ticket out of the country."

Rodriguez gave a non-committal grunt.

"Well, wherever you got her, she better be worth it."

Malone smiled.

"You have nothing to worry about."

"I'd better not. If I do, I guarantee you'll have problems of your own."

With that parting shot, Rodriguez walked off, leaving Malone to glare daggers at his back.

Alec glanced at Max, not surprised to see her giving Malone the same look he was giving the Colonel. Not that he blamed her. He wouldn't mind having a "talk" with Malone himself.

But, right now, they needed to get out of here. They'd learned everything they were going to, and they needed to get back to the set before someone started wondering where they were.

They had a few days to figure out what to do, so they could wait. They could come up with a plan, and improve the odds. Smart Strategy 101. He just had to convince Max that he was right.

Alec sighed.

One thing was for sure. He was definitely gonna have to cancel his date with Teresa.

**TBC…**

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A/N: Tigers actually do have stripes on their skin. :) The Sea World animal info page on tigers says, "Tigers are the only large cat species to have distinctive striping located on both the hair and skin of the tiger."

The next chapter should be up in a couple days, Monday at the very latest. :)

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!

Take care and God bless!

Ani-maniac494 :)


	6. The Big What?

Title: Movie Magic

Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get…complicated. MA.

Spoilers: Takes place sometime after "Love Among The Runes," but before "Freak Nation."

Disclaimer: It's mine, all mine! *maniacal laugh*

A/N: This chapter, and the one that comes after it, I have to admit, are my favorites. The scenes in these chapters are what inspired this whole fic in the first place. It's great to finally be able to post them, lol! *grins*

Thanks again to my anonymous reviewer, Alec's Angel, for her wonderful comment, and to everyone else! You make posting this story a lot of fun. :D

As always, I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter, and please let me know what you think!

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**Movie Magic**

It was ridiculous. _Beyond ridiculous_, Max thought.

A transgenic was stuck in a cage, and here _she_ was, on this stupid set, filming a _movie._

She didn't really have a choice, though, and she knew it. They'd called TC when they'd gotten back to the set and filled the others in on the situation, so a team was on its way. They just had to secure some transportation first, and that was probably gonna take a couple days. If she wanted a good shot at rescuing that transhuman, she'd have to play her part as Melissa Reynolds, actress, for a little longer. But that didn't make it any easier.

Max sighed.

It went against every instinct she had to just sit back and do nothing. The transhumans had more animal DNA than the rest of the X series, sure, but under the surface, they weren't really that different. They were still family.

She felt a stab of guilt as she remembered the lizard-transhuman she'd met when White had first shown up. She'd been so close to getting him out, but he'd still died, shot down while she watched. She wasn't gonna let something like that happen this time.

They were getting this transhuman out. No matter what.

"Melissa? You with us?" a voice asked.

Max blinked.

"Yeah, sorry," she apologized, forcing herself to smile. "Long day."

Skip nodded.

"Know the feeling." He paused. "Alright, people," he called out. "Tell ya what. Melissa looks like she could use a break, and I could too. We'll take an hour for lunch, and then, we'll shoot the big smooch."

Max froze.

"The big what?" she sputtered.

Skip shrugged.

"You know, the big kiss at the end, when Megan and James declare their undying love for each other."

"You've got to be kidding me."

Skip shook his head.

"What, you didn't think all that tension was leading up to something? That many sparks, fire ain't far behind."

"But…but that's just stupid!" Max argued. "Megan doesn't love James! He's…he's an idiot! He drives her crazy!"

"Well, you know what they say. There's a fine line between love and hate, and all that." Skip turned away from her to shout at the rest of the crew as they hurried off the set. "Remember, shooting starts up again in an hour! That's an hour, people! If you're late, you're fired!"

Max walked off the set in a daze, the words "kiss" and "love" still ringing in her ears. As her apparently never-ending bad luck would have it, Alec was waiting for her.

"So, I take it you heard about our big scene?"

Max glared at him.

"You mean the scene where Megan kills James in a fit of homicidal rage?"

"Um…no, actually I was thinking about the scene before that. The one with less bloodshed and more making-out." Alec smirked, waggling his eyebrows. "Wanna rehearse?"

"Don't even think about it," Max spat. "We're faking it."

"You can't fake kissing, Max."

"Sure you can."

"How?"

"Figure it out. Touch me for real and I break every bone in your body. Got it?"

"You take the fun out of everything," he complained.

She glared harder and Alec sighed, all traces of humor slowly fading from his expression.

"Seriously, Max, we can't fake this. We do, and they're gonna know something's up. It's just a kissing scene. Real actors do that sorta thing all the time. They wouldn't make a big deal out of it."

Max opened her mouth to argue, but no sound came out.

Alec was right. Real actors _wouldn't _make a big deal out of it, and if _they _made a big deal out of it, Malone might get suspicious. If that happened, they could lose their chance to rescue the transhuman for good.

"I don't like it either, okay?" Alec added tiredly. "But we don't really have a choice here."

"Fine!" Max growled. "We'll really kiss. But if you so much as-"

Alec held up a hand, interrupting her threat.

"I get the picture, Max, don't worry. Anything more than kissing equals violent, gruesome death."

"Glad we understand each other."

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Forty minutes later, Max had gotten the script for the next scene, and she had changed her mind.

She couldn't do it.

It just wasn't gonna happen.

There was no way.

Yes, she wanted to rescue the transhuman, and yes, she didn't want to risk making Malone suspicious, but…_Argh! _Max yelled silently. She stalked around the inside of her trailer furiously, her fists clenching and unclenching at her sides. She wanted to hit something, or someone -- preferably Alec.

This was all his fault! He'd talked her into coming on this stupid mission in the first place, and Logan-

Max stopped abruptly, realization dawning.

Logan.

Before she'd realized it, she had stormed out of her trailer and straight to her "agent's." Max let the door slam closed behind her, not caring about the noise.

"Did you know about this?!" she demanded.

Logan looked up from his ever-present laptop and frowned. "About what?"

"About this!" Max repeated, practically throwing the script at him.

Logan scanned through the pages quickly.

"You mean the scene where Megan and James kiss?" he asked.

"Yes, Logan, that scene. Did. You. Know?"

Logan shrugged. "Sure."

"And you didn't think it would be a good idea to tell me that _I'd_ _have to kiss Alec_?!"

"I'm sorry, Max. I just didn't think it would be a problem."

"Why-" Max caught herself just in time.

Of course Logan didn't think it would be a problem. He thought she and Alec were together.

"It's not like you and Alec have never kissed," Logan added reasonably, though Max could tell it wasn't an easy thing for him to say.

"Right," she agreed quickly, "of course we have. But…" She faltered. Then inspiration struck. "But that's different! We're not usually in front of thirty people with a camera crew recording everything!"

Logan sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly behind his glasses.

"Max, I really am sorry about this," he apologized again, "but I just honestly didn't think you'd mind."

"Well, you were wrong, I _do_ mind, and there's no way I'm kissing Alec in front of all those people. Now, go talk to Skip, and tell him to change the scene," she demanded.

Logan hesitated.

"Max, I hate to say it, but I don't think he will."

"What? Why not?!"

Logan looked away uncomfortably.

"Well, it's kind of the biggest scene in the movie…you know, what the whole story is supposed to be leading up to."

"So? There are other ways to show that two people are in love. We could…hold hands, or hug…or something," she suggested.

Max grimaced. That sounded lame even to her. Logan's expression made it pretty clear that he thought so, too.

"I know it makes you uncomfortable," he started -- _He has no idea_, Max thought -- "and I can try to talk to Skip if that's what you really want."

It was. It really, absolutely was. She was about to tell Logan that too, when he continued.

"But, Max, we've only got a couple more days here, and that's one of the last scenes in the movie. Complaining about something now might draw an a lot of attention. Couldn't you and Alec just…"

He stopped, waving his hand vaguely in her direction. Max heard what he wasn't saying loud and clear. _Couldn't you and Alec just kiss?_

Max felt her stomach tie itself in knots.

She'd had to do uncomfortable things before to accomplish a mission, and she'd always just grit her teeth and gotten through it. Was this really any different?

She swallowed hard.

That was the thing. Somehow, it _was _different. She couldn't just write this off as necessary and keep going. Something wouldn't let her.

But that didn't change the facts, and the facts were that a transgenic was going to be used for a publicity stunt unless they stopped it. She and Alec had a better chance of stopping it if they weren't alone. Backup was on the way, but they needed a little more time.

Max took a deep breath, and tried to force her tense muscles to relax.

"Okay," she managed finally, proud of how steady her voice sounded. "You don't have to talk to Skip. Alec and I will play the scene out the way it's written."

Logan nodded, looking somehow relieved, uncomfortable, and sad, all at the same time.

"Any news from TC?" Max asked, trying to fill the awkward silence that followed.

"Some. Dix called while you were filming. He said they're having some trouble finding a vehicle that will work. I managed to track down a map of the area around here, though, and I think I found a route they can use. It should keep them off the main roads for the most part."

Now it was Max's turn to nod, but she felt a pang of disappointment. Not that she'd been expecting Logan to say that their backup was already here and she could skip the whole kissing scene with Alec, but…it would have been nice.

She swallowed hard again.

"Well, filming's gonna start soon. I guess I should go."

"Yeah," Logan said awkwardly.

Her mind was spinning too much for her to notice the longing look he gave her as she left.

She walked down the trailer's steps, her feet automatically carrying her towards the set.

This wasn't so bad really, she told herself.

All she had to do was kiss Alec once. (As long as they didn't want to do a second take, which she refused to even think about.) One kiss. Simple.

Only it wasn't simple.

If she were really, brutally honest with herself, there was maybe, an itty, bitty part of her was just a little curious. But, more than anything, the idea of kissing Alec terrified her.

And that was just stupid, because it was _Alec_. She didn't have any reason to be afraid of him. She knew he wouldn't step out of line, and she probably hadn't even needed to threaten him. He was a jerk, but not that much of a jerk. If meeting him at Manticore had proven anything, it was that he at least had some standards. Low ones maybe, but still, she'd said no to their "orders" and he'd backed off.

Besides, she'd faced down a whole lot worse without blinking. Really, the idea of kissing Alec should have just been sick, disgusting, and repulsive…but, it wasn't.

Maybe that was why it scared her so much.

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Alec paced nervously inside his trailer, one hand running through his hair, the other clenched into a fist at his side. Realizing what he was doing, Alec forced himself to stop, and growled in frustration.

He'd been at this for the last hour, and he was fed up.

This was just stupid.

It wasn't like he was proposing to Max or anything.

This wasn't a big deal.

It was just a kiss.

Not even a _real_ kiss.

But it was a not-real kiss with _Max_, and that made all the difference. Things with Max were _always_ different. Max was just…Max.

Max, who, in about five minutes, he was supposed to declare his undying love for.

Alec sighed, running his hand through his hair again.

He might as well get this over with.

Opening the door of his trailer, he stepped outside.

_Show time._

**TBC…**

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A/N: Feel free to throw things at me now, lol. ;)

The next chapter should be up soon!

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!

Take care and God bless!

Ani-maniac494 :)


	7. The Big Scene

Title: Movie Magic

Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get…complicated. MA.

Spoilers: Takes place sometime after "Love Among The Runes," but before "Freak Nation."

Disclaimer: I disclaim, but…can I have Alec? Please?!

A/N: Thanks very much to my anonymous reviewers, Mona, Alec's Angel, and cayenta! All of your comments made me smile, lol! I'm so glad that you're enjoying it! And of course, thank you so much to everyone else too! You made my day! :D

A/N2: This chapter is the one that answers the second prompt that inspired this fic, the RH quote prompt for last October. The prompt was to write something based on this quote: "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth." -Oscar Wilde

I again wanted to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Without Him this story would never have been finished. He is the source of all inspiration.

As always, I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter, and please let me know what you think!

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**Movie Magic**

"And…Action!"

As soon as Skip said those words, Max's breath quickened, nervous energy racing down her spine. She swallowed hard and tried to force her tense muscles to relax. Her heart was pounding in her ears so loudly that she almost missed her cue.

She opened the door to the set. It was the same stage they'd used for the diner, but now it had been dressed up to look like a motel room. A sunken mattress covered in blankets sat in the center of the floor, and a wobbly-looking table with a lamp leaned against one wall.

Alec was already there, standing over the bed.

He was packing a suitcase.

It wasn't real. Max knew that. She'd watched the prop-guys arrange everything just a few minutes ago. But something about the idea of Alec packing his stuff, getting ready to leave, still bothered her, made a hollow ache form somewhere in her chest.

She pushed the feeling back down and focused on her lines.

"What's going on?"

"I can't do this anymore," Alec answered.

"Do what?"

"This," he repeated, roughly jamming a shirt into his suitcase.

"Well, thanks, that clears everything right up."

He stopped what he was doing then and looked at her. Something in his expression made her draw back a little.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" he demanded, still not answering her question.

"I thought I was visiting a friend."

"A friend. That's rich."

The bitterness in his voice made her frown.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"We're not friends, Megan. We never have been."

It was funny, but Max hadn't been expecting him to call her Megan. It was her character's name, not hers, and for a second, she'd forgotten that it was all just an act.

"If we're not friends, then what are we?"

"You tell me."

Max crossed her arms stubbornly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"No, you don't. That's the problem!" He slammed the lid closed on his suitcase, and pushed himself away from the bed, turning around to face her. "You're driving me crazy, okay? One minute, I'm sure I'm imagining things, and the next, I think maybe there's a chance for…"

"For what?"

"Us."

Max felt her heart start to race just a little faster. She knew the script. She knew where the lines were leading them. Her nerves returned full-force. Arguing with Alec she could do. It was familiar ground. But what was coming…

"Ever since we met," Alec continued, "I can't get you outta my head. Why do you think I stuck around?"

"You stayed because of me?"

"Yeah, I did. You're the only thing keeping me here. The only thing worth staying for."

Max bit her lip.

"What about Kristen?" A picture of Teresa surfaced in her mind as soon as the words left her mouth.

Alec shrugged.

"What about her? She's not you."

Max had almost expected that to be sarcastic, but it wasn't. There wasn't any humor in his voice. He was serious. For some reason, that sent a small shiver racing through her. Then Alec stepped closer, closing the gap between them, and every other thought faded away.

"You're beautiful, you're smart, and you're the strongest person I know. I…I think I'm falling in love with you."

It was a good thing Max didn't have another line after that because she wouldn't have been able to say it.

Alec's eyes were boring into hers, like he could convey how he felt by sheer will. The look on his face was unlike anything she'd ever seen before, intent and focused, but there was something else there too…longing, and something deeper.

Suddenly, the world felt very small, like everything else outside of that room had ceased to exist, and it was just the two of them.

Max watched as Alec's hand came up to rest in the hollow between her neck and shoulder, then slowly slid up to tangle in her hair. He gently pulled her forward, and when their lips touched, Max wasn't even tempted to kill him.

Well, maybe just a little bit. But there'd be time for that later.

_Much later_, she thought, sighing softly as Alec deepened the kiss.

Sensation after sensation washed over her, making her feel lightheaded, warmth quickly following behind.

"Annnnnd…cut!"

A cheer went up among the crew, breaking whatever spell they'd been under. Skip joined in the applause. "Melissa, Brian, fantastic performance, guys!" he congratulated.

Max blinked.

Alec was still holding her.

He seemed to realize that at the same time she did and they broke apart suddenly, both stumbling back. Max felt her cheeks burning scarlet and looked away. Alec cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Thanks, Skip," she heard him say. She knew he was trying to sound casual, but it had come out strange…hoarse, and maybe a little breathless.

The director didn't seem to notice.

"Okay, people," Skip began, turning around to address the rest of the crew, "I think it's safe to say we don't need to do a second take, but let's check the gate, and then we can get started on the next scene."

The crew was immediately in motion, and Max and Alec were hustled off the set and back towards hair and makeup. The makeup artists worked quickly, adding blush, doing touch-ups, and checking costumes.

Max waited for them to finish and tried not to think.

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Alec sat slumped in an uncomfortable chair, his head tipped back, his eyes closed. It probably looked a little strange, but he didn't really care. They were done filming, and he was alone, so he didn't have to worry about keeping up the act.

Only problem was, he wasn't even sure which act he was talking about. He was playing a lotta roles these days: Brian Whitman, James the movie character, Max's boyfriend when Logan was around, and now, he'd added another one to the list. He'd mentally dubbed it, "_So what if Max and I kissed? I'm fine. It's no big deal. Nothing's changed."_

Okay, so, it didn't exactly roll off the tongue. But the name still fit.

Besides, it was true.

They'd kissed, but they'd only been following a script. None of it had been real. They'd both just been pretending.

Alec sighed again, trying not to think about how Max's lips had felt against his own, the thrill that had run through him when he'd touched her. The kiss had been…

_Amazing. Incredible. Unbelievable_, his brain quickly supplied.

But that didn't mean anything. Of course kissing Max had been good. She was a hot, transgenic female, and he was a red-blooded, transgenic male.

He would have felt the same thing kissing any one of the X5 females in TC.

Yeah. Right.

Alec suddenly had the urge to bang his head against the nearest wall.

Why did he always do this? Why did he always go for the ones he couldn't have? Did he enjoy torturing himself, or did he just have _really_ inconvenient taste in women?

Alec snorted.

Inconvenient was an understatement.

It didn't matter how he felt about Max. She didn't love him, and never would. She loved Logan. Yeah, she'd "broken up" with him, but that was just because she wanted to protect him.

And who knew how long that would last?

It was only a matter of time before she told Logan the truth, and their on-again, off-again relationship wound up on again. And someday, when they found a cure for the virus, it would stay that way.

The best Alec could hope for was her friendship. They had that now…sort of. It had taken a while, and there'd been a lot of arguments in between, but eventually, they'd called a truce. Maybe it was the night she'd told him about Ben, or maybe it was working together so much in TC, but when Max looked at him, he didn't see loathing in her eyes anymore. Annoyance, anger, and occasionally rage, sure, but no loathing.

Lately, he'd started to think that he was seeing something else there too, but-

Alec cut off that thought before it went any further.

He wasn't gonna go there.

Thoughts like that were dangerous, with too many _ifs_, and _maybes_, and _could bes_, and he'd only wind up driving himself crazy.

No, it was better if he just forgot everything. The kiss, the way it had felt to say those things to her…all of it.

Because even if he hadn't been able to convince himself that he was fine, that kissing Max wasn't a big deal…he knew one thing for sure.

Nothing had changed.

Alec sighed.

That was the thing, though.

Nothing had changed…but everything was different.

**TBC…**

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A/N: Well, Alec's finally started to admit how he feels. Next chapter, you'll get to see how Max does, lol. ;)

The next chapter should be up in a couple days.

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!

Take care and God bless!

Ani-maniac494 :)


	8. Love Hurts

Title: Movie Magic

Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get…complicated. MA.

Spoilers: Takes place sometime after "Love Among The Runes," but before "Freak Nation."

Disclaimer: If you've heard that Alec is missing…I didn't have anything to do with it! Really! *muffled noises come from a nearby closet, sounding suspiciously like, "Don't listen to her, she kidnapped me!" in Alec's voice*

A/N: As always, thanks very much to my anonymous reviewers, Mona, and Alec's Angel! And of course, thank you so much also to everyone else that's reading, and left comments! You really do make posting this story a lot of fun. :D

I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter, and please let me know what you think!

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**Movie Magic**

Max paced restlessly in her trailer. She realized what she was doing and sat down. A second later, she was back up again.

She'd managed not to think too much while they were filming, but now that they were finished, she couldn't seem to stop. Her head was spinning, thoughts racing so fast she could barely concentrate.

She'd kissed _Alec_.

Alec. Ben's twin. Alec, whose case she'd been on since day one. Alec, who'd cost her the one chance she'd had for a cure. Alec, who just wouldn't leave not matter how many times she'd told him to get lost.

Max swallowed hard.

She'd never been kissed like that before. Never _felt_ like that before, either.

But, that didn't mean anything…right? Alec was a good kisser. So what? He got a lot of practice. Max snorted. He'd probably kissed half the girls in Seattle. And that stuff he'd said? It wasn't like he'd meant any of it. He was just a really good actor…wasn't he?

Max sighed.

The questions were driving her crazy, and they just kept coming. Why? Because as much as she tried to deny it, she'd seen something in his eyes, something that made her think…maybe, just maybe, it hadn't been an act.

But if it hadn't been and act, then he'd _meant_ what he'd said, and…

Max paused, biting her lip.

Did she _want_ him to mean it?

"Hey, Max. Mole called, and he-"

Max spun around, startled.

Logan was standing in the door of her trailer. She immediately tried to look nonchalant.

"Oh, hey, Logan."

He frowned.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," Max said quickly. "Why?"

"You just seem…" Logan's frown deepened a little more. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" She shifted uncomfortably. "Anyway," she added, "you…um, said something about Mole?"

Logan still didn't seem convinced, but he answered anyway.

"Yeah. He called to say they found a vehicle. They're using the back roads so it will take them longer, but they should be here tomorrow."

Max nodded.

"Good. That's…good."

She grimaced at how that had sounded, and apparently, Logan had heard it too, because he looked like he wanted to ask if she was okay again.

"Did you need something else?" Max wondered, hoping to head him off.

"No, I just thought you should know."

Max nodded.

"Thanks. I'll fill Alec in."

Logan's expression darkened a little.

"Right. Well…let me know if you need anything."

"I will."

He turned to leave then and Max stifled a sigh, feeling guilty.

Their conversations had been like that for a while, awkward and stilted. She just wasn't sure what to say to him anymore. It was never like that with Alec. Things between them were, not comfortable exactly, but…easy. Uncomplicated.

Or at least they had been.

Max slumped down onto the small cot that doubled as the trailer's bed, tucking up her legs so that her elbows rested on her knees.

What was she supposed to do now?

She'd never thought about her and Alec being together…well, alright, maybe she had… once or twice. But he was supposed to be her pretend-boyfriend. Thoughts of…togetherness…sort of went with the territory.

It had just never seemed like a real possibility before. It was always one of those out-there ideas, right up there with UFOs and-

_Secret government conspiracies to create genetically-engineered supersoldiers? _a voice in her head asked. _'Cause, yeah, that'll never happen._

Max sighed again, resting her chin on her arms.

Why did her life always have to be such a mess? It had been so much simpler before. Well, okay, so maybe her life had never been simple, exactly, but somehow, playing escape and evade with Lydecker seemed a lot easier than figuring out her feelings. And, it wasn't just _her _feelings that she had to worry about, either. What about Alec? What if she was reading into things too much, seeing something that wasn't really there?

If Alec hadn't meant it, and she tried to talk to him, she'd just wind up making an idiot out of herself for no reason. Besides, they were friends -- sort of -- and she didn't want to lose that, corny as it sounded.

Then again, what if there really was something there, and she lost her chance because she was too scared to admit it? Things had started off with Logan that way. She'd seen the possibilities, but she hadn't acted on any of them. If she had, maybe…maybe things between them would be different now.

Things weren't different though. The virus was still there. She and Logan couldn't touch, and there probably wouldn't be a cure anytime soon, if there was ever one at all. And, if she was really honest with herself, that wasn't the only thing keeping them apart. There was so much she couldn't tell him, so much he wouldn't understand. Like Ben. She'd never told Logan about that day in the woods, never told him what she and the others had done back at Manticore. She didn't want him to look at her like she was a monster.

But, in a way, she was. The monster was part of her, and always would be. Alec got that. She didn't have to explain it, because he already knew. He had a monster of his own.

That idea…the idea that if they were together, she wouldn't have to hide anything from him…was scary and exciting at the same time. She'd wanted that freedom once, more than anything. It was part of why she'd wanted to find her brother's and sisters so badly, because she'd been tired of being the only one like her…tired of being alone.

What if…what if she didn't have to be alone anymore?

Max swallowed hard.

She had to know. No matter what…she had to know.

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Alec had decided somewhere around day two of their mission that it was just easier to stay out of Logan's way. Not that Logan had actually said anything, but a guy could only take so much, and the looks Logan gave him pretty much made him feel lower than pond scum. He didn't really blame Logan for acting that way, though. If it had been him, and he'd had Max…

Alec clamped down hard on that thought.

He didn't have Max though, he reminded himself forcefully. Logan just thought he did. That was why Alec was sitting outside, leaning against the trailer, instead of staying _inside_ where Logan was busy doing his Eyes Only thing.

That, and he just didn't feel up to playing Max's boyfriend right now. Not after…what had happened.

"Enjoying the warm weather?" a voice teased.

Alec opened his eyes to see Teresa standing nearby. He shrugged.

"It's not that bad. Just getting some fresh air."

"Well, you must be hot blooded because I'm freezing." She pulled her jacket around her a little tighter and rubbed her arms. "Listen, I just wanted to say goodbye. I shot my last scene, so I'll be heading out first thing in the morning."

"Oh," Alec said, a little surprised. "That time already, huh?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry we never got to have dinner," Alec offered, not really sure what else to say.

"That's alright. I had a feeling you had somewhere else to be."

Alec frowned. What exactly did that mean?

"Anyway, take care of yourself, okay?" Teresa's smile turned mischievous. "And tell Melissa _I'm_ the one who should be jealous."

Alec blinked. "What-" he started to ask, but she didn't let him finish. She walked forward a few steps and gave him a kiss on the cheek, grinning at his puzzled look.

"See you around, Brian," she said.

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Max stood frozen on the spot, watching as Teresa left. She hadn't heard what Teresa had said, but she'd seen that kiss.

Her stomach lurched.

Well, she'd wanted an answer. Now she had one.

She turned to go.

"Max!"

Alec must have spotted her. Max felt the sudden urge to run, but fought it down, and forced herself to turn around.

"Yeah?" she managed, trying to make her voice sound steady.

Alec hesitated, looking like he was arguing with himself about something. He scratched his neck uneasily.

"Can we, uh…can we talk?" he asked finally.

Talk?

Panic bubbled up in Max again. She couldn't do this. She couldn't listen to him say that it had been nice and all, but he just wasn't interested in her that way.

Her gaze hardened and she crossed her arms.

"Talk about what?" she asked.

Alec raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I don't know…maybe about what happened on the set?"

"Nothing happened on the set," she answered flatly.

"Funny, I don't remember it that way."

"Well, you need to get your memory checked, then. We were following a _script_, Alec. That was all. It didn't mean anything."

For a second, something flickered in his gaze, something raw…but then it was gone.

"Yeah," he agreed, looking away. "It didn't mean anything."

The confirmation was like a punch in the gut.

She'd been right. And that hurt, because, Max realized, she hadn't wanted to be. She'd wanted…

But that didn't matter. Not anymore.

A tense silence descended, neither one of them willing to break it.

Max finally did though, knowing if she didn't say this now, she'd have to tell him later, and she didn't want to have to come back.

"Mole called. They'll be here tomorrow."

Alec just nodded.

She waited a second longer, and when he still didn't say anything else, she turned and started walking back to her trailer. She ignored the way Alec's gaze followed her.

She could pretend that she didn't notice.

After all, she'd done it before.

**TBC…**

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A/N: In case anyone is wondering, Teresa didn't know that Max was watching. She just turned out to have really bad timing…

The next chapter should be up in a day or two. :)

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!

Take care and God bless!

Ani-maniac494 :)


	9. And Action!

Title: Movie Magic

Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get…complicated. MA.

Spoilers: Takes place sometime after "Love Among The Runes," but before "Freak Nation."

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel, but I've moved Alec to an undisclosed location. I mean…nope, I still don't know where he is. *tries to look innocent*

A/N: I can't believe this has over 100 reviews now. Thank you so much everyone!!!

To my anonymous reviewers:

Alec's Angel: I agree, Max really did jump to a bad conclusion about Teresa. I think she's just very used to assuming the worst when it comes to Alec, and that's a hard habit to break. And, by the way, are you sure you got the real Alec from that closet? I set up decoys… ;)

Mona: Thank you so much! Lol, Max and Alec really are hard-headed, lol. And Max really did panic…she was so sure he was going to say that to her that she cut him off before he could. (She might regret that later. ;) )

I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter, and please let me know what you think!

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**Movie Magic**

The team had arrived that morning.

Alec sighed, running a weary hand through his hair. It had been a long day already, and they hadn't even gotten to the hard part yet.

Sneaking five transgenics onto a movie set hadn't been easy, especially when one of them looked like a giant, talking lizard. Alec had suggested that Mole sit this one out, but the transhuman had flat-out refused. Alec hadn't fought him on it too much.

He'd figured that all of the others -- Lena, Garret, Tally, and Reese -- were X5s, so they could do the legwork on the trip to the set and Mole could stay outta sight 'til they were ready. Besides, if they got caught on the way back, they'd have a lady with stripes, so a guy with green skin and scales wasn't gonna make much of a difference.

They'd hidden their ride in a small clearing about a half mile away, then hiked the rest of the way up. Getting past the rent-a-cops at the entrance hadn't been difficult, but since filming wasn't over yet, the set had still been busy.

Even worse, the trailers had been crammed to begin with, and trying to hide five people in one wasn't a fun experience. Max had been there too, of course, and having to stand right next to her and act like everything was normal…

Half of Alec wanted to punch something, the other half just wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere with a bottle of Scotch, and try to disprove the theory that transgenics couldn't get drunk.

"What's your problem?"

Alec blinked, realizing he'd gotten so lost in his thoughts he hadn't heard anyone walk closer. He spared a glance at Mole.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Sure you are, Pretty Boy." The lizard-man gave him a piercing look. "Just don't screw this up."

Ah, Mole and his way with words. It was so nice to know he cared.

Alec snorted softly and forced himself away from the tree he'd been leaning on. He followed the transhuman over to the others. They were all dressed in black -- except for Mole, who still hadn't lost his army jacket. Then again, in the dark, Mole was almost invisible. Even Alec's cat-sensitive eyes had to work just a little harder to see him.

Max, though…Alec couldn't have ignored her if he tried. Her presence always seemed to be on the edges of his awareness, and it had only gotten worse since-

He pushed that thought roughly back down. Now wasn't the time for this. He had other things to worry about, like not getting captured or killed. For the moment, that took priority.

Shaking his head at himself, Alec watched as Max tapped the radio at her ear.

"All set, Logan?"

"All set," the cyber journalist's voice confirmed over the comms. "I've isolated the frequency the guards are using. I'll keep monitoring it from here. If anything changes, you'll know about it when they do. Good luck."

"Thanks," Max answered. She looked up, glancing around at everyone else. "Ready?" she asked.

They all nodded, and one by one, disappeared into the darkness.

The forest was almost pitch black, but there was still more than enough light for a transgenic. Alec stopped, crouching silently at the base of a tree. He let his eyes sweep the perimeter, taking his time picking out his first target.

He settled on a guard standing at the base of a small hill. He was wearing night vision goggles, scanning the woods around him every few minutes.

Alec blurred forward and slipped an arm around the man's throat, clamping down hard on his airway. The guard struggled for a few moments before his eyes fluttered closed, and his body went limp. Alec held on for a minute more, wanting to make sure the guy wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, then he reached for the guard's gun, popped the clip, and pocketed it. He checked the chamber and emptied it too. No sense leaving the guy armed, just in case he _did_ get back up.

It didn't take long for Alec's ears to pick out the sounds of other limp bodies hitting the forest floor around him. An ordinary wouldn't have heard it, but Alec mentally totaled their count before setting his sights on his next target.

_Seven guards down, a whole lot more to go…_

The plan was to take down as many as they could before they moved on to the air field. That way, if things went sideways like they usually did, and the bad guys called for reinforcements, they, the good guys, wouldn't have as much to worry about.

They had ten minutes to take out the rest of their targets, then they were supposed to meet and regroup. Time went by fast, and soon Alec was standing at the rally-point. It wasn't long before the others showed up, too.

"How many did you get?" Garret asked.

"Four," Alec answered. "You?"

"Three."

"Three for me, too," Reese added.

"I got five."

The male X5s all turned to glare at Mole. The lizard-man shrugged.

"Don't look at me, kitty-cats, ain't my fault you're slow."

Alec heard Lena mutter something about "males and their egos," and Tally nodded in agreement. Alec thought about saying something back, but decided against it. If the other females were anything like Max, it was probably the smart thing to do.

Speaking of Max…

He sensed rather than saw her come up behind him. He forced himself not to react.

"How are we doing for time?" she asked.

He glanced at his watch.

"Not bad. We've got at least half an hour 'til the next shift change, so that gives us about twenty minutes once we get to the air field."

Max nodded, and the group fell silent as they started moving again, Alec and Max taking point. Security hadn't gotten any better in the last couple days and the road was still unguarded, so they didn't run into any obstacles there. The air field itself, though, still had a few guards stationed outside the hanger.

Alec and Max signaled to the rest of the team to split up. Mole, Reese, Lena, and Tally went around to cover the back, while he, Max and Garret took the front.

They waited for a few minutes to make sure they were clear, then blurred across the runway, taking the guards by surprise, disarming them and dragging the unconscious men into the shadow of one of the storage sheds. Hopefully, if someone came looking, they'd assume the guards were on their rounds, sweeping the area. It wouldn't work for long, but it would buy them a little more time at least.

Alec tapped his ear piece.

"Mole, we're going in. Maintain position for now."

"Copy that."

He followed Max around the building until they reached the same window they'd used during their first visit. Max jumped inside, and Alec and Garret followed behind her. They did a quick sweep of the corridor they'd landed in, then ran silently down the hall towards the main area where the transhuman was being kept.

They blurred again, trying not to give the guards there a chance to call out a warning. Alec saw Max take her target out with a kick and an elbow to the chest. Alec hit his target a split second later, punching him hard in the jaw. Garret dropped low, sweeping his leg under his target's, and knocked the man out with a blow to the head.

The other guards, unfortunately, had a little more time to react. One of them managed to pull a side-arm from his holster, but Max was next to him in an instant, taking the gun from his hand and hitting him across the temple with it. He went down hard, and Max ejected the clip from the gun, clearing the chamber before tossing the gun aside.

Alec's next opponent actually managed to take a swing at him, but he dodged the punch easily, catching the man's arm, twisting it behind his back and using the momentum he gained to throw the guard into the cage bars and then to the floor.

Garret had apparently decided to take a page out of Max's book, and grabbed his opponent's rifle, using it like a club, hitting him hard in the head, and again in the stomach.

The remaining guards seemed a little slow on the up-take -- either that, or they hadn't expected to see six of their buddies taken out in a few seconds -- and it wasn't long before they were down too.

_So far so good,_ Alec thought, watching as Max bent down to grab the keys from one of the guards. Max tossed the keys at him, and he caught them one-handed, then walked over to the cage door.

It took him a minute to find the right one, and he glanced up at the transhuman while he worked. She was watching them warily, her head tilted at an odd angle, her lips curled in a half-snarl.

When the lock clicked and the door finally creaked open, the transhuman crouched, the snarl turning into a full-blown growl. She swiped the air with her hand, her fingers curled and claw-like.

Alec backed up a step.

"Whoa, easy, Tiger."

The words had slipped out before he could stop them, but thankfully, the tiger-lady didn't seem to take offense. She just blinked at him, and the growl slowly died down.

"It's okay," Max added a second later. "We're here to help you."

The tiger-lady blinked again, her gaze darting to Max and then to Garret.

"It's okay," Max repeated. She was using what Alec thought of as her "Josh-voice," the one that way always a little softer than her regular voice, and a lot softer than the tone she usually took with him.

Alec wasn't sure if the transhuman could really understand them, but she almost looked convinced…_almost_, when Alec's ears caught a low rumble in the distance. And it was getting louder. The tiger-lady must have heard it too, because she backed further into the cage, and bared her teeth.

Max tapped the radio at her ear.

"Mole, what is that?!" she demanded.

"We've got a problem."

Alec rolled his eyes.

"We've noticed." _I knew this was too easy. _"What kind of problem?"

"There's a plane headed this way."

"A plane? Is it gonna land here?"

"With our luck, I'd say, probably, yeah."

Alec cursed under his breath.

"They just received a transmission," Logan's voice broke in. "Pilot's telling them to clear the runway."

"What about pretending to be the control tower? Telling them to wait?"

"I would, but the air field doesn't have a control tower."

Alec sighed. These guys didn't care about NTSB regulations. Go figure.

At least the plane wouldn't be able to see that there was something was wrong from the air, though, so that gave them a little more time to figure out what to do.

"Mole," Max ordered, apparently thinking the same thing, "keep tabs on that plane, but stay where you are. We don't want to tip them off unless we have to."

"Understood," Mole responded, though he didn't sound very happy. Then again, he never sounded happy.

Alec frowned, looking back at the cage, and the transhuman inside it.

How were they supposed to get her back to TC if she didn't want to go? They could try knocking her out, but for some reason, Alec didn't think that would get them on her good side.

But, no matter what, they had to figure something out and fast. The plane wasn't the only thing they had to worry about. The guards in the hanger weren't a threat for now, but there were more buildings, other guards. Not to mention the ones they'd left back at the set, the ones who --

"Max!" Logan's anxious voice came over the comms again. "All personnel have been ordered to fall-back to the air field!"

--the ones who had apparently reported an ambush. Alec shook his head. Well, they could pretty much kiss that extra time goodbye.

Alec glanced over at Max, and she nodded.

"Change of plans," she said. "Garret, come with me. We'll see how close the rest of the guards are to getting here, and hold them off if we have to. Alec," she added, nodding at the transhuman, "get her out of that cage."

Alec arched an eyebrow at her.

"How?"

"Figure something out."

With that she was gone, headed for the front of the hanger, Garret right behind her. Alec sighed, and looked back at the transhuman.

She blinked at him through the bars.

"Um…nice kitty?" he tried.

She snarled, and Alec held up his hands.

"Okay, okay, relax. I didn't mean anything by it."

He backed up another step just in case.

Alec sighed. Well, this was just great. They finally pull off a rescue, and this is what they get. What was he supposed to do now? Tempt her with catnip? A steak? An antelope, maybe? Too bad he didn't have any of those.

Making up his mind to try talking again -- not that he had a lot of other options -- Alec moved away from the cage's opening. He wanted to give her a lot of room if she decided to cooperate.

"Listen," he started slowly, "we," he pointed to himself and in the direction Max and Garret had gone, "really are trying to help you. We can get you out of here." He pointed to the tiger-lady and the open cage-door to make his point. "But you," he continued, waving her forward, "have to come with us."

The tiger-lady blinked again, cocking her head, and Alec grimaced. He felt like one of those American tourists people complained about, the ones who thought that if they spoke English loud enough and slow enough, everybody would understand them.

Something he'd said must have worked, though, because a second later, the transhuman started moving tentatively for the door.

"Come on," Alec encouraged. "That's it. Good…uh…tiger."

The tiger-lady stopped and looked at him, her lip curling a little. It wasn't a very human expression, but somehow, Alec still got the feeling she thought he was an idiot.

She walked the rest of the way out though, and in spite of the way her eyes tracked him when he moved, she didn't seem like she was planning to jump him any time soon. Alec breathed a small sigh of relief, and walked a few steps away to see if she'd follow. She did, so he started for the hanger doors.

Max and Garret were waiting for them.

"How are we doing?" Alec asked.

"See for yourself," Max said, nodding. at the door. Alec followed her gaze, focusing his eyes. A group of about twenty men was gathering on the edge of the air field. Rodriguez stood in front of them, barking orders.

Alec frowned. Seven transgenics up against twenty soldiers wasn't actually bad odds. Then his eyes fell on the plane now sitting on the runway. It was large enough that he couldn't see around it, but…

With a sinking feeling, Alec tapped the radio at his ear.

"Mole, what's our status?"

"Not good," Mole answered. "You know that plane? You'll never guess what it was carryin'."

Alec sighed.

"More guards?"

"Yep. More guards."

**TBC…**

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A/N: I've written Star Wars battle scenes and lightsaber duels, but this is actually the first action scene I've written for DA. It was a fun challenge, and I really hope I handled it well. :)

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!

Take care and God bless!

Ani-maniac494 :)


	10. And Action! Take Two

Title: Movie Magic

Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get…complicated. MA.

Spoilers: Takes place sometime after "Love Among The Runes," but before "Freak Nation."

Disclaimer: Alec says hi, lol. ;)

A/N: A few people asked about the tiger-transhuman. :) For anyone who's curious about her, she's inspired in part by the panther-woman Alec meets in the sewers in "Proof Of Purchase." Like the panther-woman, she has a lot of animal DNA, and doesn't really speak, though she can understand some of what people say to her. Her instincts tend to overwhelm her human characteristics though, so Manticore couldn't train her. She was kept for research purposes. If you have any more questions about her or any of the other OCs, please feel free to ask. :)

To my anonymous reviewers:

Alec's Angel: Thank you so much! :) I'm very glad that you enjoyed the action scenes, and Alec trying to talk to the tiger-woman. And I'm so glad that you caught the reference to Supernatural too, lol! :)

I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter, and please let me know what you think!

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**Movie Magic**

Max watched the soldiers lining up outside, and tried to force away her frustration. She knew the only option they really had now was to withdraw, but something inside her rebelled at the idea. It made her think of all those sayings about the predator becoming the prey, and the predator inside Max didn't like it one bit.

Besides, with the week she'd had, she really wanted another excuse to hit something.

Max sighed. Right now, they had other things to worry about. She glanced at the transhuman woman who was prowling around behind Alec, and activated her comm.

"Mole, we'll head for the back of the building. Meet us there."

She didn't wait for Mole to answer, just started walking. She felt Alec move behind her, and tried to ignore how aware of him she always seemed to be. It was part of what had annoyed her when they'd first met, but lately, it had almost started to be kind of…comforting. Now, though, it was just another reminder of what she couldn't have.

Max led the team through the hanger and back towards the corridor they'd been in earlier. She thought about using the window again, but one look at the transhuman changed her mind. The tiger-woman was keeping up with them for now, but it had taken Alec a while just to coax her out of that cage. If they used the window, chances were she wouldn't follow, and Max didn't want to risk leaving her behind. She kept moving down the corridor instead. There was an emergency exit at the end, an unlit sign above it. She tested the handle, glad to find that it wasn't locked. Not that locks were really much of a challenge for a transgenic, but they had enough to deal with already.

She had pushed the door open and was just about to step outside when she saw them. A group of soldiers was standing about ten feet away, guns raised.

"Down!" Max shouted, and dropped to the ground.

A split second later, a barrage of bullets flew overhead.

Max's gaze darted around to the others, and relief swept through her when she realized they had all instinctively obeyed the order. Alec was right beside her, using a low-lying crate as extra cover, his hand reaching for the Glock tucked in his waistband as he looked for an chance to return fire. Garret was a little farther back, reaching for his own weapon. The transhuman was on Alec's other side, crouched down, growling.

Max hit the radio at her ear.

"Mole, where are you?!" she demanded.

"Busy," came the terse reply. Another round of gunfire sounded a second later, carrying over the comm and echoing outside. The bullets punching through the thin walls of the hanger stopped abruptly as the soldiers outside realized they had a new threat to worry about.

Max looked over at Alec, and he nodded, already knowing what she was thinking. Going out the front of the building was risky, but it was better than trying to meet the ambush head-on.

She pushed herself up, and staying low, started running for the main part of the hanger. Alec fell in behind her, jogging backwards, both hands on his gun. Garret climbed up onto a stack of crates, ready to lay down cover-fire if they needed it. The transhuman followed behind them, looking back in the direction of the soldiers, her teeth bared.

A noise echoed through the hanger, and Max froze. There was a loud creak, the sound of metal grating on metal, and slowly, the main hanger door started to open.

Max's breath caught in her throat.

Rodriguez.

He'd been corralling them. He'd set his operation out in the open hoping they'd see it and try to sneak out the back, where his men were waiting. Now, he was opening the hanger, giving his men easy access to building. He was surrounding them, cutting them off in both directions.

"This isn't good," Alec said lowly. Max saw him tap the radio at his ear. "Mole, we're gonna need some help in here!"

The only answer they got was static.

"Logan!" Max tried. "Can you reach Mole?"

"No, and I'm not picking up anything else either. Whatever orders those soldiers have, they're not discussing it over comms."

"Radio silence," Alec muttered.

Max nodded in agreement. Rodriguez was obviously paranoid, and this time it was paying off. Not that it was really hard to figure out what the soldiers' orders were now. The door was high enough that she could see them outside, waiting. Max and Alec shared a look, then moved apart automatically, trying to cover more ground and not give the bad guys a single target.

Chances were they wouldn't be able to hold off the soldiers for long, but they didn't exactly have much choice. Their best bet was to wait for Mole and the others. They wouldn't win, but they might be able hold Rodriguez and his men off so they could escape.

As soon as the door was high enough, the first of the soldiers slipped through.

Max ran at the nearest one, making his head snap back as the heel of her hand connected with his nose. He staggered back, stunned, and Max kicked out, her foot catching the back of his knee. His leg collapsed, and he went down hard.

A fist came at Max from the right, almost taking her by surprise, but she ducked just in time, hitting her newest attacker in the side with her elbow. She felt a rib give way, and he cried out in pain. She reached up for the collar of his uniform, picking him up and throwing him overhead, tossing him to the cement.

A gun clicked behind her, and Max blurred immediately, heading for the near-by wall of the hanger. She jumped up easily, running perpendicular to the wall, then twisted in mid-air, flipping over the soldier and landing behind him. He spun around but didn't move fast enough, and Max reached for his gun, ripping it from his hands, then hit him in the face with it. He stumbled back, and Max attacked again, her leg connecting with his chest. He crumpled to the ground and didn't move.

Max looked at the gun with disgust and dropped it, her eyes darting back to the battle around her.

She could see Alec a few feet away, fighting two soldiers at once, dodging their blows, and coming back with several of his own. Garret was still balanced on one of the high stacks of crates, making careful shots, acting as a sniper.

Max knew they had to end this thing now. The hanger was rapidly filling with solders, and it seemed like as soon as one went down, another appeared to take his place. They wouldn't be able to last much longer like this.

They had to get that door closed.

Her eyes flew up to the ceiling, searching the shadows, looking for something, anything. She let her gaze sweep over the hydraulics controlling the door, and…_there_.

"Garret!" she shouted. He turned, and she pointed at the ceiling. "The hoses!"

He nodded in understanding and raised his gun, adjusting his aim. He fired a few quick shots, hitting the main hose, rupturing it. The metal screeched in protest, and the building rattled as the door started to fall. Soldiers scrambled out of the way, and a few of them ran outside just before the door crashed to the cement, the sound reverberating though the hanger.

There was still a handful of soldiers inside, but for now, the soldiers _outside_ would stay there. That would have to be enough until backup arrived. Max felt a stab of worry. She hadn't let herself think about it earlier, but if Mole and the others had been taken out, then-

A roar of pain came from behind her, and Max spun, her eyes immediately finding the transhuman. She was surrounded, a group of soldiers slowly pushing her back towards the cage. One of the men had found a cattle-prod somewhere and was shocking the transhuman with it each time she lunged.

Max turned around again, searching for Garret. A few of the soldiers had started shooting at him after the door had come down, and he was laying flat on top of the crates, ducking fire. He'd chosen his position well though, and they hadn't been able to hit him. He was safe for now, safer than the transhuman, anyway. She glanced across the hanger. Alec was busy taking on some of the men who'd managed to slip through before the door had closed.

_Oh well_, Max thought. It was up to her.

She blurred, coming up behind one of the soldiers and throwing him of her way. He hit the wall of the hanger hard and didn't get back up. She blurred again, punching another soldier in the face, then smashed her knee into his chest, making him double over as the air was forced from his lungs. She moved for the next one, but pain suddenly raced along her nerves, wrenching an involuntary cry from her throat as her muscles spasmed.

_Cattle-prod_, Max thought hazily. One of the guards had hit her with it.

Her legs gave out, and she fell, landing hard on the cement. Instinct made her try to get up right away, but her body ignored her brain's commands.

The guard stood over her, watching her twitch. Realizing she wasn't much of a threat at the moment, he drew his gun and aimed leisurely, the barrel of his weapon pointed straight at her chest. Max saw the guard's finger slowly tighten on the trigger, and braced herself for the inevitable.

"MAX!"

Alec's yell was the last thing she heard before the gun fired.

**TBC…**

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A/N: I know, I'm mean! *ducks all the rotten tomatoes* It just was too good a spot to stop at, and I couldn't resist! *hides under desk*

The next chapter should be up in a couple days, Lord willing. :)

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!

Take care and God bless!

Ani-maniac494 :)


	11. Out With A Bang

Title: Movie Magic

Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get…complicated. MA.

Spoilers: Takes place sometime after "Love Among The Runes," but before "Freak Nation."

Disclaimer: Dark Angel still isn't mine…and they tried to make me give Alec back! *sniff* They didn't get him though. *grin*

A/N: I'm so sorry this took me a little longer than I thought it would to post! Yesterday wound up very busy, and today I was catching up on work I didn't get done yesterday, lol. I hope that this next chapter will make up for it. :)

To my anonymous reviewers:

Alec's Angel: Thank you very much! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the action scenes! And I know it was a cliffhanger…but it was just such a good spot! *blushes*

Mona: Thank you! Lol, okay, I admit, there might have been a cackle or two here and there. ;)

I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter, and please let me know what you think!

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**Movie Magic**

Alec had never blurred so fast in his life.

He didn't think, just knocked out the soldier he'd been fighting and ran. He knew that he was too far away to keep the other soldier from firing, but he could get between Max and the bullet.

Alec stopped in front of her just before a familiar, searing pain ripped through his leg. The injured limb gave out, sending him to the ground. He grit his teeth, and locked his arms, catching himself before he went down completely. Max was still feeling the affects of the cattle-prod, and right now, he was the only one who could really move. And, well…admittedly, he hadn't thought much about what he'd do _after_ getting between Max and the guy with the gun.

The guy with the gun didn't have the same problem, though, and he'd apparently gotten over the shock of seeing Alec blur out of nowhere. He raised the gun once more, taking aim at Alec this time.

Alec pushed himself up from the ground, careful to stay in front of Max. He was trying to figure out if tackling the soldier would make him more or less likely to get shot again, when he saw another blur of movement out of the corner of his eye.

The tiger-woman.

She attacked the soldier, roaring in fury, and he screamed, frantically trying to get away as she pulled him to the floor.

He wouldn't be getting back up.

Alec grimaced and turned around, shifting a little as he tried to keep the weight off his bad leg.

"You okay?" he asked Max.

She was watching him with wide eyes, a strange expression on her face. It took her a minute, but finally, she nodded.

"Yeah. Help me up," she demanded.

Alec held out his hand to her. He could feel her muscles shaking as she gripped his wrist, but she managed to stay on her feet once she got there. She still looked kind of unsteady though, and her gaze was unfocused.

"Max?" he asked again. "You sure you're okay?"

She jumped a little, like he'd startled her. She looked up at him then, and her eyes narrowed suddenly.

"That guy could have killed you."

Alec blinked, surprised.

"Well, yeah, but I'm pretty sure he tried to kill _you _first. I just got in the way."

"Don't do that again!" Max snapped.

Alec was about to say that if she could avoid almost getting shot at close range, he wouldn't have to, but something in her voice stopped him. On the surface, she sounded like she usually did -- annoyed, angry -- but there was something else beneath that. She almost sounded…scared.

But why would she be scared? She'd been in worse situations before, and it wasn't like-

A loud crash sounded at the back of the hanger, and Alec spun, automatically falling into a fighting stance. In retrospect, it probably didn't look all that threatening, since he was leaning heavily on his good leg, and Max was still swaying on her feet beside him.

But, if Rodriguez and his men had gotten in through the emergency exit, it probably wouldn't matter what shape they were in. They'd be trapped.

Heavy footsteps sounded down the corridor. A second later, soldiers appeared, and…one of them resembled a giant, chain-smoking lizard.

Alec let himself relax.

"What took you so long? And why didn't you use the comm?"

"Had a welcoming committee to deal with," Mole answered, pointedly resting the barrel of his sawed-off on his shoulder. "Didn't have time to stop n' chat."

Alec let his eyes flicker over Mole and the others as they spread out through the warehouse, taking care of the few soldiers that remained. Mole and Lena looked battered but they seemed okay. Tally was limping a little, though, and Reese had gash on his temple.

"You still in one piece?" he asked, turning back to Mole.

"Yeah. Why, disappointed?"

Alec snorted.

"I'll get over it," he shrugged, then winced. Mole noticed, and scowled at him.

"What happened to you?" he demanded, looking down at Alec's leg. Alec opened his mouth to answer, but Max beat him to it.

"He jumped in front of a bullet," she said, throwing a quick glare Alec's way. "Now, hurry up, we have to get out of here."

With that, she turned and headed for the corridor. The others followed behind her, and Garret jumped down from the crates he'd been using. He had a bullet-graze on one arm, but looked alright otherwise. Alec realized he probably owed the guy a thank you for keeping the other guards busy. He'd been so focused on Max, he hadn't thought about much else.

Max.

Alec frowned. He was used to her berating him for doing something stupid, but this was different. It wasn't like he'd 'jumped in front of a bullet' to get on her nerves. What was she so mad about?

"Well, can you walk, or am I gonna hafta carry ya?" Mole asked.

Alec blinked, shaking himself from his thoughts. _Not the time_, he reminded himself silently.

"I can walk."

"Good. You're in charge of her." Mole pointed at the transhuman woman, and then headed for the corridor before Alec could say anything.

Alec sighed, and turned around to find the transhuman woman a few feet away, watching him. He frowned again.

Maybe he finally understood Max's obsession with naming people. They couldn't just keep calling her "the transhuman," or "the tiger-woman" forever. She needed a name.

He paused, an idea hitting him.

Huh. It was kind of an obvious choice, but…why not? Alec waved the transhuman forward.

"Well, come on, Tiger," he said.

She blinked at him and started walking.

Getting out of the hanger was surprisingly easy…too easy, and Alec kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. The forest behind the air field was quiet, though, no sign of Rodriguez and his men. For a little while, anyway.

They spotted Rodriguez standing on the edge of the runway with his remaining men. He looked like he didn't plan on moving any time soon.

Max signaled for the group to wait, and they all stopped, crouching low. Malone was with Rodriguez, his face red with anger, fists clenched at his sides.

Apparently, he'd been summoned from the set only to be told that his transgenic prize had left the building.

"What do you mean it's gone?!" he was yelling.

"I told you, Malone. Someone broke into the hanger. They were highly trained, whoever -- or whatever -- they were." He shrugged. "Some of my men claim one of them didn't look human. Maybe they were more of those freaks."

"What are you waiting for then?! Do you realize how much money they could be worth?! Go after them!"

Rodriguez crossed his arms.

"No, I don't think I will."

Rage flared in Malone's eyes.

"When Mr. De Luca hears about this, he'll-"

"Mr. De Luca," Rodriguez interrupted, obviously enjoying himself, "is unhappy with the way you've handled this situation. You've been drawing too much attention to yourself, and that's bad for Mr. De Luca's business. If things got out of hand, he ordered me to…take care of the problem." He paused, smiling coldly. "Several of my men are dead or wounded. You wasted a lot of money moving that freak out here, and now it's gone. I'd say things have gotten out of hand, wouldn't you?"

Malone's eyes grew wide, his rage rapidly turning to fear as he realized what Rodriguez meant.

"You…you set me up!" he accused, frantically backing away. "You wanted me out of the way! You-"

A round of gunfire silenced him.

Alec grimaced.

Well, they wouldn't have to worry about Malone anymore.

He glanced at Max and she nodded.

It didn't seem like Rodriguez planned on following them, and they certainly weren't gonna complain. They signaled to the others and started moving again.

The hike back through the forest had been tense and slow, and by the time it was over, Alec's leg was complaining…_loudly_. But, Rodriguez had apparently been telling Malone the truth about letting them go, and aside from a lot of limping, there hadn't been any other problems reaching the vehicle Mole and the others had brought.

Alec's eyes widened a little when he saw it.

"A Brinks truck?" he asked, surprised.

Mole shrugged.

"Only thing we could find with enough room and no windows. 'Sides, it'll keep people from pokin' around in the back."

"It wasn't being used, was it?"

Mole smirked around his cigar.

"Nah, we got it from a car rental place."

Alec snorted.

He made a mental note to make sure the bank they'd gotten it from was run by a bad guy. With all the corrupt business people in Seattle, there had to be at least a few bankers on the take, right?

Mole walked over to the truck, and swung open the doors in back. He pulled out a med kit and tossed it to Lena, then took something else from the back of the truck.

Alec saw Max frown.

"What is that?" she demanded.

"What does it look like? It's a tranquilizer gun."

"For what?"

"Her," Mole answered, nodding at Tiger.

Max's gaze hardened in understanding. "No way. We're not-"

Mole spun to face her.

"Why d'you think they sometimes knock animals out for long treks?" he growled. "They get stressed!"

"She's not an animal!" Max growled right back.

"No, she ain't, but she's got a whole lotta animal DNA. It's at least a twelve hour drive back to TC. We just stick her in the back of that truck and she's gonna wind up rippin' somebody's head off."

Max looked like she wanted to argue, but Mole had a point.

"Fine," she answered grudgingly. "You can use the gun on her. But make sure she's okay with it first."

"How exactly are we supposed to do that?" Mole asked incredulously. "Say, 'Pretty please, can we knock you out?'"

Max glared.

"Just talk to her," she snapped.

She glared again, then turned and headed over to help Lena with the medic duties. With the mood Max was in, Alec hoped she wouldn't be the one playing his nurse. His leg throbbed at the thought.

"Well," Mole started drawing Alec's attention once more, "you heard her Highness. Here." Mole shoved the tranquilizer gun at him. "You can do the 'explaining'."

"Why me?"

"'Cause she likes you best."

Alec sighed.

Typical.

**TBC…**

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A/N: The next chapter is the last, as strange as that sounds to say. Though, there might be a short, one-shot sequel in the works…I'll have to see what happens with it. :)

The next chapter should be up in a day or two, Lord willing. :)

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!

Take care and God bless!

Ani-maniac494 :)


	12. That's A Wrap

Title: Movie Magic

Summary: Max and Alec go undercover on a movie set, and things get…complicated. MA.

Spoilers: Takes place sometime after "Love Among The Runes," but before "Freak Nation."

Disclaimer: Dark Angel still isn't mine.

A/N: I wasn't planning to post this last chapter on the Fourth Of July originally, but I think it's kind of cool that it worked out that way, lol. :) I hope that everyone had a fantastic day with family and friends!

Praise God for freedom, and men and women brave enough to fight for it.

To my anonymous reviewers:

Alec's Angel: Lol, well, Mole doesn't think like a lizard even if he looks like one…except for the whole cold-blooded thing. ;) And you're right, lol, Tiger might claim Alec if Max isn't careful. It's hard for me to believe it's almost over too. I can't say when it will be up, but I am working on the quick sequel I mentioned.

Mona: Thank you! I'm sad to see it over too. I promise I did my best to tie all the loose ends together, and the one thing that isn't mentioned will play a part in the sequel I'm working on. :)

I hope you'll enjoy this last chapter, and please let me know what you think!

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**Movie Magic**

They'd been back in Seattle for a week.

Somehow, that week seemed just as long as the week on the set had.

Max sighed, and hit the brakes on her bike as the car in front of her slowed down for the sector check-point.

Logan had asked her to drop by, saying he had some info for her on the movie. "_Love Hurts_," was about to go into post-production, and they really didn't want a movie floating around with them in it. The plan was for her and Alec to steal the film before any copies could be made.

It wasn't a mission Max was looking forward to. She'd been avoiding Alec as much as she could since they'd gotten back. So far, anytime he showed up, she'd managed to find a reason to be somewhere else. OC had noticed, but she hadn't pushed. Max was grateful for that. She already knew what her friend would tell her, that she should stop running and talk to Alec already. But she just…didn't know what to say to him.

It would have been easier if she could pretend like nothing had changed. Maybe then she would've been able forget about what had happened on the set. But no, Alec had to go and get all noble and self-sacrificing, and almost get himself killed.

He'd almost died because of her. _For_ her.

Max swallowed hard.

She knew she hadn't exactly reacted well, but she'd just been so angry, so absolutely furious with him.

How could he do that to her?! How could he just risk his life like that?!

People she cared about had died for her before, and she was sick of it. Zack, Brain…she didn't want to add Alec's name to the list.

The idea of him not being there at Jam Pony, or in TC -- not being there at all, ever, doing _anything_…

There wasn't a lot that scared Max, but that did. She hadn't realized…hadn't realized just how much he really meant to her, how hard it was to picture her life without him in it.

But, now that she actually _did _realize how much he meant to her, it was too late. She'd missed her chance, if she'd ever really had a chance to begin with. Alec didn't feel about her the way she felt about him.

If he felt about her like _that_, he wouldn't have told her that the kiss hadn't meant anything.

_And it hadn't_, she reminded herself. It couldn't.

But she wanted it to. She wanted it to mean something.

A car behind her beeped impatiently, and Max jumped. It was her turn at the check-point. She shook herself roughly from her thoughts and rode forward, holding her sector pass up to one of the guards. He squinted at it, and waved her through.

It didn't take her long to get to Logan's from there. She pulled to a stop in front of the house, and swung her leg over the seat, then walked up the steps.

The clicking of keys told her where to find him, and she moved for the living room. She paused in the doorway, watching him for a minute.

They'd left him on the set to smooth things over, and explain their sudden disappearing act. He'd come up with some story about her and Alec being called for another project, and they'd had to leave right away. That hadn't stopped Max from worrying though. If Rodriguez had found out that the two lead actors had conveniently vanished from the set, he would have had an easy time putting two and two together. And if Logan had gotten caught, they would have been too far away by then to do anything to help.

But, thankfully, everything had worked out alright, and Logan had gotten back to Seattle a day behind them.

Max cleared her throat.

"Hey."

Logan looked up from his computer.

"Oh, hey, Max."

"You said you had something for me?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. I found out where the studio sent the film. Turns out their using a Seattle-based company."

"That will make things easier. Got an address?"

Logan smiled.

"Even better. I managed to track down some blueprints of the building."

He reached down to open his desk drawer, and pulled out the plans, handing them to her carefully. Max grabbed them by the edges and moved for a near-by table, spreading them out across the surface. She let her eyes sweep the layout, cataloguing entrances, exits, and windows.

"Doesn't look too bad," she commented. "Should be simple enough. Alec and I can do it in a couple days."

"How is Alec, anyway?"

"He's fine," Max answered automatically.

His leg was healing at least, that much she knew. He was still limping a little, but that would go away soon. She'd gotten funny looks from Luke and Dix when she'd asked them to tell her how Alec was, but avoiding Alec made it hard to ask him questions.

And, it wasn't like he'd gone out of his way to talk to _her_, either.

Max pushed that thought aside uneasily, and straightened up from the table.

"So," she asked, wanting to change the subject, "stealing the film won't keep everyone from getting paid, right?"

She remembered Malone's threat to Skip, that if the movie was scrapped his pay would go with it to cover costs. She didn't want that to happen to everyone who'd worked on the set. And that included her and Alec's salaries too. TC could definitely use the money.

"Right. The way the contracts were written, the studio is obligated to pay everyone as long as filming was finished."

Max nodded.

"Good. At least Skip will have something to show for putting up with Malone."

Logan smiled.

"I don't think we have to worry about him, actually. I checked up on him. Apparently, the whole thing gave him an idea. He managed to sell the studio on it, and so far, it's getting a lot of good buzz."

"What was his idea?"

"It's a mystery that takes place on a movie set. The producer turns out to be the villain."

"Wonder who inspired that?" Max asked wryly.

"Not a clue."

Max snorted softly, and reached for the blueprints.

"Well, thanks for this," she said, holding up the plans.

"No problem."

She turned to go, but hesitated, wondering if she should say something else. The sound of the front door opening stopped her.

Light footsteps echoed down the hall a moment later, and a familiar voice called, "Hey, Logan, the S1W decided to move on that sector cop, and we-" Asha appeared in the living room and paused. "Oh, hey, Max."

"Hey."

Asha looked between her and Logan for a minute, glancing at the blueprints in Max's hand.

"I can come back later if you're busy," she offered.

Max shook her head.

"Nah, that's okay. I was just leaving, anyway."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure."

Max nodded her thanks at Logan again, and he nodded back. She walked to the door then, but paused once more, turning around. She didn't say anything, just watched Asha and Logan together.

They were already so absorbed in their conversation they didn't even notice.

It was strange, Max thought, being the one on the outside, looking in. She'd always known Asha was interested in Logan -- Asha had been interested in Alec too, Max remembered -- but Asha had never really pushed, just sort of sat on the sidelines, waiting. That had annoyed Max, because what exactly was Asha waiting for?

Now…now, maybe she thought she knew. She wondered if this was what Logan felt when he looked at her and Alec…if they seemed to fit together the way Logan and Asha seemed to.

Max sighed, and pushed herself from the doorway. She walked outside and down the steps, headed for her Ninja. She swung her leg over the seat, pulled up the kickstand with her foot, and started the engine.

She wasn't jealous.

The thought hit her suddenly, and Max froze on her bike, just listening to the engine run, staring blankly at the street in front of her.

She wasn't jealous.

She should be. But she wasn't.

It was strange after everything, to realize that. It was freeing somehow.

Maybe, Logan could be happy. Max hoped so. Then, at least, one of them could be.

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Alec shifted in his seat and winced. He'd been sitting in the same place for the last two hours, checking over the inventory lists for their next supply run, and his leg was getting stiff. The words were blurring together in front of him too, and he just couldn't seem to concentrate.

Giving up, Alec tossed his pen at the table he'd been using and pushed himself out of his chair. His leg protested again, but it would loosen up as he walked. He just needed to stretch his muscles and clear his head.

Alec snorted softly.

Right, 'cause clearing his head had been so easy lately.

His eyes unconsciously drifted to the door of Max's office. He knew she was avoiding him, but he was okay with that. Then he didn't have to figure out what to say to her, or pretend that everything was fine.

Because it wasn't.

He could admit that…to himself at least.

It felt like he'd had everything he'd ever wanted dangled in front of him, and then yanked out of his grasp. And now, what he wanted most was sitting just out of his reach.

Yep, clearing his head was workin' real well so far.

Sighing, Alec let his feet carry him towards the door and outside to the street. He walked for a few minutes, no real destination in mind, but eventually he wound up headed towards the small brick building not far from HQ.

Tiger's new place.

The lab had seen better days, but it had enough space for her to move around, and the roof didn't leak too much, which was about the best you could hope for in Terminal City. He kind of wished they had more to offer her, though, like a preserve or something, but the closest TC got to a preserve was that patch of weeds down on 3rd, so they'd gone with the lab instead.

Alec pushed the door open and stepped inside, letting his eyes wander as he went. They'd cleaned it up as much as they could, clearing out what had been left of the equipment, but cabinets and counters still lined most of the walls, making it pretty easy to see what the building had originally been used for.

Tiger was lying on some cement steps near one of the windows, looking like a big cat sunning itself on a rock, only without the sun. This was Seattle, after all.

"Hey, Tiger," he greeted.

The transhuman raised her head, a soft, almost-purr coming from her throat. Alec figured that was her version of "hi." He walked over to one of the counters and jumped up to sit on it, letting his feet swing back and forth absently.

Tiger watched him from the steps, one of her hands twitching a little, but otherwise, she didn't move.

"So," Alec asked eventually, trying to fill the silence, "how do you like the place? Thinking of redecorating? You know, a few pillows, some throw-rugs…maybe a TV?"

Tiger just blinked at him, then laid back down, resting her head on the cement again.

Obviously, that was a 'yes' on the redecorating.

Alec sighed.

He couldn't really say why he'd come here -- it definitely wasn't for the conversation. And it wasn't that he'd wanted to check up on her. He didn't need to. She was settling in pretty well, all things considered. There'd been a few tense moments when the sedative had first worn off, but then she'd seen Joshua. Apparently the big guy had helped take care of her down in the basement when Manticore had forgotten about the little things -- like food. She'd seemed to decide everybody in TC was friendly then, or at least, not a threat.

Maybe…maybe he'd come here because her life was simple.

Yeah, she was a genetically-engineered part-human, part-tiger, but as long as her basic needs were met, and no one was trying to kill her, torture her, or force her into an impromptu Hollywood career, she didn't really have much to worry about.

Eat, sleep, survive.

Alec had tried to tell himself that once, that survival was enough, but then he'd met Max, and she'd made him want more. Made him want to _be_ more.

The problem with wanting more, though, was that when you didn't get it -- which was most of the time -- you just wound up miserable. Not that survival alone was all that great, but it made it easier to live for the moment, and not get your hopes up.

Because hope was what really got to you in the end.

It wouldn't leave.

You could get kicked a hundred times, and just before kick number one-hundred-and-one landed, some part of you would think, "Maybe, this time, it will be different."

Then, inevitably, you got kicked again, and the whole thing started over.

That lesson had been drilled into Alec early on at Manticore, and eventually, he'd learned to just stop hoping. Or at least, he'd learned to bury his hopes deep enough that he could almost make himself believe he didn't have any.

Max did the opposite. She hung on to hope, focused on it, no matter what. It was one of the things he'd rolled his eyes at her for when they'd first met…like the way she'd been so determined to escape. Yeah, she'd made it out, he'd thought at the time, but that was just because Renfro had let her go. Whether or not his mission succeeded -- he really hadn't cared either way -- Manticore would still get what it wanted. They always did.

But somehow, Max had done it. She'd beaten them. She'd escaped, and gotten everyone else out, too. That was when he'd started to wonder if maybe hope wasn't totally worthless after all.

Then, as time had passed, he'd started to hope that Max could be more than a friend, could someday feel the way about him that he felt about her.

He'd known how impossible it was. He had a better chance of winning the lottery, and that had gone out with the Pulse.

But he'd still hoped anyway.

_And look how that turned out_.

Alec ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, then let his hands drop into his lap. That was when he noticed his watch.

He was supposed meet with Max in a few minutes to talk about their plan for getting the film.

Great.

Resisting the urge to sigh again, Alec jumped down from the counter. The sound of his shoes hitting the cement echoed in the silence, and Tiger looked up at him.

"Well," Alec said, "I know you're busy, so I'll let you get back to…"

The transhuman yawned.

"…sleeping."

Shaking his head resignedly, Alec started walking back towards Command.

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Max realized she was tapping her hand on the desk, and forced herself to stop. She wasn't nervous, exactly, just…on edge. The idea of being in the same room with Alec sent a weird kind of tension spiraling through her.

It felt overwhelming somehow, complicated and uncomfortable…and she hated that, because it had never really felt that way before. He'd just barged into her life and made himself at home, and she'd gotten used to having him there.

The sound of footsteps outside made her look up, and a second later the door opened.

"Hey," Max said.

Her voice didn't exactly come out sounding normal…more neutral than anything, but then, Alec's sounded just as flat.

"Hey."

He waited in the doorway for a minute, his hands in his pockets. Was it her imagination, or did he seem as tense as she was?

"So," he asked, finally walking further into the room, "find out what we can do about the film?"

Max nodded.

"They're using a company here in Seattle. Building's in sector 4. Logan got the blueprints."

"Good old Logan," Alec muttered.

Max frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. "When do we leave?"

"We've got a couple days, but I thought we could do some recon later."

"Just what I wanted to do with my night."

Max looked up sharply.

"What's the matter? You have a date or something?"

She resisted the urge to flinch as soon as the words left her mouth. It was just to close to…everything.

"Why," Alec asked, "Logan making pasta again, and you want to double up?"

Max's jaw clenched.

"Logan and I aren't together anymore, you know that."

"Yeah. Right."

"We're not," Max insisted. And this time…maybe for the first time, she meant it. But Alec didn't believe her.

"Uh-huh, and that's why you two stare longingly at each other all the time."

"At least we don't make the people around us sick because we can't stop flirting for more than five minutes!" she growled back, bristling.

"You got something against having fun? Oh, right, sorry, forgot who I was talking to."

Max glared.

"You never take things seriously!"

"You'd be surprised. I take a lot of things seriously."

"Like what? Chasing anything in a skirt?"

"I seem to remember you wearing a skirt, Max. I didn't chase you."

Alec's voice was cold, and Max felt something inside her snap.

"No, you were already busy with Teresa! 'Oh, Alec, you're such a big, strong man!'" she mocked.

"What does Teresa have to do with this?!" he demanded. Then his eyes narrowed. "Or are you jealous?"

It was too close to the truth, and Max clenched her fists at her sides.

"Jealous?" she scoffed. "Of what?! That kiss?! Please! We kissed, too, remember?! And trust me, there's nothing to be jealous of!"

Alec moved forward suddenly, his hands slamming on the desk, his face inches from hers.

"Yeah, Max, you and I kissed! But 'we were following a script,' _remember_?!" he sneered.

"You're the one who said it didn't mean anything!" she yelled back.

"You said it first!"

They both froze, staring at each other.

Max's own words replayed in her mind.

"_We were following a script, Alec. That was all. It didn't mean anything."_

Alec was right…she _had_ said it first. But…but Teresa had… and Alec didn't…he couldn't…

Max watched as Alec sighed, and pushed himself away from the desk -- away from her. He ran a hand through his hair, his shoulders slumping, the last of his anger fading.

"Look," he started, his voice soft, almost weary, "it…it did mean something, okay? To me, anyway. But I know you don't want it to mean anything…so we can just forget it. I'll meet you tonight for the recon, and-"

Max finally managed to force something past the lump her throat.

"No."

Alec blinked, frowning.

"No, what?"

Max swallowed hard.

"I don't want to forget it."

Alec froze again, his body suddenly, utterly still, his eyes wide. Any other time, it might have been funny.

"You…you don't?"

Max shook her head.

"No."

Silence fell, and Max waited, her heart pounding in her ears. She almost thought she could hear Alec's too.

"What about Logan?" he asked finally, hoarsely.

Max looked away, biting her lip.

"I'll always care about him, but…I don't think I love him, not like that. Not like he wants me to. Maybe I did once…or could have, but things are different now."

"So, where…where does that leave us?"

Max forced herself to meet his eyes.

"Is there an us?"

Alec held her gaze.

"Do you want there to be?"

Max couldn't answer.

"What about Teresa?" she asked instead.

Alec smirked faintly.

"She didn't even give me her phone number. Seemed to think I was interested in someone else."

Max swallowed hard, and her gaze fell on his mouth.

She thought of missed opportunities, possibilities, and a chance for happiness. And just before her brain caught up with the rest of her, she walked from behind her desk and closed the distance between them, letting her lips brush his.

The kiss was hesitant at first, but then Alec seemed to realize what was happening and pulled her closer. Max wrapped her arms around his neck, and felt the world fall away, like it had on the set.

Warmth ran from her head to her toes, racing along her nerves, and she let her hands tangle in his hair, her fingers unconsciously brushing his barcode.

When they finally pulled apart, Max opened her eyes to find herself staring into his, a mix of hazel and gold that reflected the light.

"So," Alec said finally, still a little breathless, "does this mean if I ask you out, you'll say yes?"

Max pretended to think for a minute.

"Depends. Where would we go?"

Alec grinned.

"How 'bout a movie?"

**Fin**

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A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who's been reading and especially the reviewers. There are so many of you who've reviewed every chapter, and your reviews have made me smile and really encouraged me!

A/N2: I am working on a one-shot sequel, though I'm not quite sure when it will be up yet. The story will be set a couple months after Movie Magic. :)

I also have another DA multi-chapter fic in the works, and a few other DA pieces I'm hoping to post soon. If you enjoyed this one, I hope you'll check those out too. :)

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!

Take care and God bless!

Ani-maniac494 :)


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